


Wash Away With the River

by DestinyxDarkness



Series: Telltale's; The Walking Dead - The Blue Comet Series [2]
Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Angst with a Happy Ending, Asexual Character, Bisexual Female Character, Canon-Typical Violence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Happy Ending, F/F, F/M, Gay Male Character, Gun Violence, M/M, Multi, Multiple Partners, Polyamorous Character, Rape/Non-con Elements, Zombie Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:06:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 40
Words: 185,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21951919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DestinyxDarkness/pseuds/DestinyxDarkness
Summary: After successfully saving everyone from the first season, Primrose and her group sets off North from Savannah in search of the cabin group from the second season in order to give them the very same happy ending that she gave to those in her group. However, before they can find the cabin group, disaster strikes, washing away Primrose's hope of a happy ending down the river.Can she, along with the two companions that still stand by her side, find a way to still reach that dream? Some say that only the universe knows the answer ahead of time.(Ties in heavily to the previous book, it is recommended to read that one before this one to get the full extent of the story)
Relationships: Alvin/Rebecca (Walking Dead), Bonnie/Original Female Character(s), Carlos/Original Female Character(s), Clementine/Sarah (Walking Dead: All That Remains), Eddie/Wyatt (Walking Dead: 400 Days), Jane/Original Female Character(s), Luke/Original Female Character(s), Matthew/Walter (Walking Dead: A House Divided), Mike/Shel (Walking Dead), Nick/Original Female Character(s), Peter "Uncle Pete" Joseph Randall/Original Female Character(s), Sarita/Original Female Character(s), Troy/Original Female Character(s), Vince/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Telltale's; The Walking Dead - The Blue Comet Series [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1556881
Comments: 105
Kudos: 83





	1. Dream Breaker

If someone were to ask for the truth of where I had come from, the best guess that I had was that I wished upon a comet one night – a bright white one with a brilliant blue tail trailing behind it – for the character’s from the walking dead to be real and for me to give them a better ending to their stories. More specifically, it had been the ones from Telltale, where sadly the grand promises of being able to cater your story to however you pleased… Fell tremendously short.

When I went to sleep that night, I mysteriously woke up in a world far different than my own, exactly in a universe that seemed to echo exactly how the games had been. With only one major difference, the simple fact that my choices and decisions truly seemed to matter.

I had struggled for over four months to try and keep my odd powers of foresight a secret from those who existed in that world, while simultaneously trying to prevent some of the horrible deaths that would befall them without my help. I had succeeded for the most part, managing to save everyone except for a single person from the first season as well as the tremendous luck that they all continued to believe in me even when they learned of the truth.

An extra bonus to all of that was the fact that I had managed to charm around ten of the people from that season, truly showing myself to be polyamorous and bisexual when I decided that I wanted to date each one of them to give them the love that they truly deserved.

The group that I managed to take with me out of Savannah after the events of the final episode of the first season was myself, Clementine, Shawn, Duck, Kenny, Katjaa, Glenn, Doug, Carley, Lilly, Mark, Travis, Ben, Omid, Christa and the two cows Maybelle and Bramble. Our seventeen strong group didn’t spend all that long on the outskirts of Savannah after getting everyone out safely, pressing on North.

We also had Lilly’s father Larry as well as Ben and Travis’ teacher David back in Macon, but we left the both of them behind after the former tried to kill me (for what seemed like the millionth time) and the latter made a deal with bandits that nearly cost us our lives. On the way to – and in – Savannah, we also met an older man named Charles (most people called him Chuck) as well as a spunky woman my age named Molly. Both of those two ended up splitting off from us, setting sail on the waters with a boat that we had repaired for them to use.

After the events of the first season ended, I decided to head north based on the vague hints that I had been given by the second season of the game. There were of course some vague names that I could remember, and luckily one of those seemed to strike gold.

“Parker’s Run? Man, I’ve always been meaning to visit that place!” Omid was quite pleased with the news that we were possibly heading to a civil war historical site, him as well as Lilly and I poring over our map of America to see where we were supposed to be heading. He of course still loved learning more about the civil war, as it had been the reason that he and his girlfriend set off on their road trip before the world had fallen apart with the dead walking the streets. And of course, I was going to be more than happy to share in his joy, as he was in a polyamorous relationship with me as well as Christa. In a way, he was my polyamorous brother in arms. “Here, Parker’s Run is on the North side of West Virginia”

“Not to mention West Virginia is quite dense with forests and rivers, which is exactly what you described as the main type of environment” Lilly of course knew more about America than I did, as I was born and bred in Britain (as well as in another universe, but that wasn’t as important) while she had grown up in Macon. I smiled a little bit to myself as the daunting task of figuring out where to go was that much easier, the possibility of saving the people from the second season being that much more within reach. I truly was at my strongest when I was beside those that I loved. “Wellington is also on here, in case we decide to swing around there after we’ve helped the people from the… Second season, did you call it?”

“I did” I confirmed that she had remembered it correctly, but of course I could still hear the hesitation in her voice. Learning that her world was only a game in my world still seemed to be the occasional stumbling block, if only because it was odd to talk about something like that aloud. “I’m not going to bog you guys down with a massive list of names, but the main leaders of that group are going to be called Luke and Carlos”

“Is there anyone we should be watching out for? Like John from Savannah, or the St. John brothers?” I could hear Shawn ask me that from his position next to the fire that he was trying to get started, as we had all stopped for the night next to a river on our way north towards the National Forest’s that were in West Virginia.

“Well-

“Prim, come on, I can’t brush your hair if you’re constantly tilting your head around to look at people” Carley softly reminded me that she was still trying to help me get rid of a bunch of thorns that had gotten stuck in my long chestnut brown hair, and I obediently turned my head back to the position she wanted when she used the familiar nickname that people had associated with me.

Prim. It was a bit of an odd name for me, as for most of my life I had hated when people had called me that rather than my full first name of Primrose. More specifically, I hadn’t really liked the people who had used the name, my old “friends” from my original universe who honestly… Were less than stellar people. The only great thing about Tess, Alex and Michael was that each one had taught me skills that had saved either my own life or others in the apocalypse (lock picking, first aid, working with machines, listening intently to footsteps, you name it).

It was only when Kenny and Shawn had first adopted the nickname that I soon found myself warming up to the name, it changing from an instant turn-off to a pick-me-up that could lift my spirits in the worst of times. Since those two, it had become almost a habit for everyone in my group to call me Prim, as everyone cared for me enough to use the pet name. The only exception that really turned the occasional head was…

“Mum, can Duck and me go hunting with Omid and Christa later?” Clementine softly asked me, and I could feel the smile on my face widen simply because of how much I truly felt like her parent by that point. While she had originally planned to only call me that until we had found her parents again, we were quite certain by that point that her parents no longer were alive. With me promising her that I was going to look after her as long as she wanted me to, I truly felt my motherly instincts rise from deep within me.

“Of course you can darling, just make sure to always stick close to someone” I decided that it was fine, as she and the slightly older eleven year old boy going with her could use the tips that Christa and Omid would impart over to them. “Glenn would have my hide if I didn’t reinforce the buddy system as always”

“Because it’s there for a good reason!” Glenn called out quite happily when he heard himself being included into the conversation, the entire group laughing softly with how upbeat he always was. Omid and Glenn truly were the ones to lift spirits with their corny jokes when it was needed, and we weren’t nearly as worried about the noise levels.

If we had been in the middle of an episode or a season, I would have been more worried about people shouting or making noise beyond a casual speaking tone, but we weren’t. It was a little funny (somewhat sad as well) that the moment the game timeline’s left us be for a while that things were so much calmer than any other time. It was as if the creators of the games had made things so much more tense and destructive than when they were at work, making life a living hell for the characters they created.

…It was certainly something to get the mind thinking.

“Alright, off we go then” Christa announced the departure of herself, her boyfriend and our two kids in the group. Kenny, Lilly and I all nodded our heads, both as a way to show them that we had heard and as our unspoken permission for them to leave for a bit. “Be careful of the river by the way, the ground near it is very soft and slips away easily”

I turned my head to the river she was talking about, hearing the strong sounds of bubbling and rushing water as the river passed us by. It was as though someone had opened a dam much further upstream, a torrential speed that threatened to wash away anything that dared step within its cold embrace. It reminded me of the moment that Clementine would float downstream in the second season… And that thought put me into a feeling of unease. I only had that feeling once before in that world, and it was right before I had nearly gotten bitten by a walker (thank Doug and Kenny for that one, as they had convinced me to keep my hair which had ultimately been the deciding factor in my survival), so I was more attentive to that feeling resting in my gut than I would have been before.

“Here you go Prim” Ben spoke up, gently holding out a piece of a bird that we had caught only a couple of hours before. It was small, but it would no doubt give us some good nutrients. I took note of the fact that he was doing his best to not use his right arm in more common tasks, as of course he wouldn’t want to accidentally slice something or someone with his new hooked hand.

“…How’s your arm?” I asked him, and he shrugged his shoulders for a second before lifting up the hooked hand for a moment to feel how heavy it was. It had only been a couple of days since I had to cut his right hand off to save his life after being bitten by a walker, but I had still not gotten quite used to the sight of the hooked hand being attached to his arm and shoulder.

“The hand still feels like it’s there, and the hook is still kind of heavy” Ben gave an answer that seemed to suggest that nothing much had changed for him, him lifting his right arm and waving the hook from side to side; likely feeling as if he was doing nothing more than waving at me. “When does the phantom limb go away?”

“It varies from person to person Ben” Katjaa, our resident first aider, came along to intercept the conversation before I could say anything, as of course it would only frighten the teen further if he learned that I had no clue whether it was still normal or not. I still occasionally had to remind myself to not address her as ‘Kenny’s wife’ for the simple fact that he wasn’t married to her in this new universe. “I wouldn’t worry too much about it if I were you”

“Whenever it happens, it’s still much better than being a walker” Travis reminded his friend, coming alongside him as we talked, him and I passing soft smiles between each other when our eyes met. Ben had informed me the day before of when Travis’ birthday was (it was only two days away by then), so I knew that I had to get something for his eighteenth birthday even if it was something minor. “Those thorns coming out of your hair alright?”

“They did, despite Prim’s best efforts to shake her head around like she’s some wild bull” Carley lightly teased me as she finished getting the last thorns out, relinquishing her hold on my hair so that I could finally have complete autonomy. She left me with one final kiss on the cheek, a little reminder of our mutual love. During that kiss she must have felt the tense way I was sitting, because it apparently worried her enough to ask about it. “Is everything alright Prim? You’re bristling almost like a cat would”

I didn’t have to explain the odd feeling resting in my gut, a noise distracting everyone in the group towards the left of our camp. We were all trained by that point to not ignore a noise if it worried us, and we had even more reason to pay extra attention to this one as it came from the exact direction that Christa, Omid, Duck and Clementine had gone… As well as some increasingly loud sounds of arguing going on.

“Where’s the rest of your group?!”

“We’re-We’re by ourselves!”

“…No, surely that’s not what’s going on” I mumbled softly to myself, finding the particular sentences that floated through the trees far too familiar for my liking. “It hasn’t been two years yet, and we haven’t even run into that one bathroom where Omid…”

Lilly and Kenny both could just hear what I was muttering under my breath, tipping them off that I certainly had an inkling as to what we would be encountering if we went into the forest. While it was most definitely too early for the scavenger group to come along and try and steal some of our supplies from the second season, there was no way that I was going to abandon those four in the woods without help.

“There’s going to be a scavenger group in the woods, about four of them” I lowered the volume of my own speech down extremely low, causing several of my group to have to huddle close to hear me. Most, if not all, had already gotten their respective weapons ready, various guns being reloaded because we were going to be handling humans and not walkers. “If they’re threatening our group, shoot to kill”

Only Katjaa, Ben and Travis stayed behind to watch over our two cows, Shawn, Mark, Kenny, Lilly, Glenn, Doug and Carley following behind me like we were a pack of wolves. We didn’t have to travel that far out of the camp to see what was going on, a group of four scavengers threatening Omid and Christa with guns while the kids hid behind them. Duck certainly was looking like he was going to be pulling out his own pistol to help, but things were better left to the eight of us in the shadows instead.

“I’ve got the one with the spear” Mark quietly announced as he readied his rifle, three others also picking out their targets. Kenny, Lilly and Carley each found a target long before the rest of us could, as the four of them were the best with guns in our group. “Ready? Three, two… One”

Like a choreographed movement all four of them fired their guns at practically the same time, felling the four people threatening our own members. Even as the bodies thumped in the dirt, that dreaded feeling didn’t seem to leave my body… And it became apparent why a moment later.

Something that a player couldn’t really have seen in the game, several more scavengers started to appear out of the trees and shrubbery as though they were limitless. It actually did remind me of a similar experience I had seen with walkers within that different universe as well, several more beings slivering out of places that you didn’t even think were possible for them to appear from. It began with five, then grew to ten… Fifteen, twenty, thirty… I truly stopped counting after I got to fifty.

“Holy shit!” Christa shouted in fright, diving behind a nearby tree for safety, dragging the two kids to safety as well. Omid luckily didn’t seem to need the help, diving after her to avoid the first shot being aimed in their direction.

The sound of bullets being fired and guns being hurriedly reloaded soon became the overbearing sound penetrating through those woods, both our side and theirs firing as much as we could into the thicket that separated our two groups. It was looking like we were far better at aiming, as none of the people on our side had even remotely been hit while their side had taken several casualties.

After the seventh opponent got taken out of the new wave of people, I managed to notice around five particular scavengers that surged quickly across the field, heading towards the tree that our four were hiding behind.

“Christa, Omid, you’ve got incoming!” I yelled out to the both of them, and Omid managed to spot them coming just in time to warn his girlfriend next to him. “Clementine, Duck, the both of you get back to the camp and warn the ones that aren’t here!”

Both kids immediately ran off the moment I asked them to do that, them pumping their little legs as fast as one could really manage at their age. Omid and Christa managed to interrupt two of the five that were heading towards them, but they were taken a little by surprise to notice that the other three kept going past them in pursuit of the children instead of them.

“Prim, the kids!” Kenny called out to me, as I was the only one who had run out of ammo by that point. It was quite clear to me and him that the kids weren’t going to be able to outrun three full grown adults, and I really didn’t like the way two of them were holding their weapons with a murderous glint in their eyes.

“I got them!” I left the main responsibility of keeping that massive horde of people off of our backs to them, quickly darting between the trees before any of our enemies could think of firing at me. I did hear some bullets being fired not far behind me after I began running, but like all of the others they missed their mark and left me completely unharmed. “Kids, make a moon for me!”

It was a cryptic enough instruction to throw off the three adults chasing after them, but Duck and Clementine understood perfectly what I was asking of them, sharply turning inwards to their right to make a giant curve around our camp; imitating a crescent moon. With one of the men slowing down to even understand what was going on with the children that he was supposed to be following, it left me enough time to pull out my fire-axe in preparation for a fight.

He still had his head turned away from me the moment I caught up with him, so I felt a little bit bad for taking him completely by surprise, but the kids were in danger so I didn’t dwell on it for too long. With a heavy swing, I managed to imbed my axe far enough into his head that there was no question that he wouldn’t get back up afterwards. After pulling my axe free from him, I charged off again in pursuit of those kids.

The kids had curved around the camp well enough that the five of our group there wouldn’t have to deal with hostile enemies, instead heading towards the river in the hopes that either man would speed off into it without looking. Unfortunately for the kids, their curvature was far better than they had expected, which meant that the adults were far behind them without really any chance of those two skidding off the embankment.

“I have a gun!” Duck warned both men as he pulled his pistol out, but neither one seemed to regard him with any urgency. I signed behind the two men that I was aiming for the guy that was to my left, which left him with the other one. “I warned you!”

With that Duck lowered his gun down calmly and fired at the guy to my right, hitting him cleanly in the middle of the forehead. The other guy paused for a moment as his friend got killed, which gave me enough time to catch up to the last one, quickly handling him as well with my axe.

“Great work you two, now let’s head back to the camp to warn Katjaa and the others” I allowed myself a split second to catch my breath before I would likely carry both kids back to the camp. I was just about quickly pick up them both and run with them under my arms, when I noticed that Clementine had stopped a little bit too far backwards on the embankment of the river for my liking. “Clementine, come away from that honey, it looks like it’s going to-

Right as I began to warn her about it the embankment crumbled away underneath her, her letting out a loud squeal before she made a tiny splash in the river. She reappeared just a moment later, trying her best to paddle around and keep her head above water, but it was pretty clear from her frantic movements that she had not yet learned how to swim at her age.

“Help!” Clementine called as the river started to sweep her downstream, with a response coming immediately from Duck.

“I got her!” Duck bravely (and possibly also a heavy dose of foolishness) dived into the river as well, reappearing above the water much faster than she had before. He clearly had some kind of training with swimming, which wasn’t that much of a surprise if his mother and god father lived in a town bordering on the ocean, with his legs doing his best to kick towards Clementine. He even did make it to her before long, struggling to hold her upright, but in the process running into the problem that he was threatening to go underneath the water.

It was two years too early, but the universe was making itself very clear. It wanted me to replicate what Clementine was supposed to do, jumping into that river and letting myself be drifted downstream until we reached the little boating area where the second season would truly begin. If I jumped in, then the others wouldn’t know immediately where I was, but… God, I couldn’t leave those kids.

“EVERYONE! JUMP INTO THE RIVER AFTER US!” I called out that order as loud as I could over the sound of distant shouting, firing and reloading, hoping to any sort of deity that they understood. No real response came back that said that anyone understood my orders, but I didn’t have time to waste. With one final look back into the forest, I looked towards the two kids who were steadily getting further and further away from me, and placed my faith in someone more important to me than any sort of god or belief. “…Lee, please watch over me”

With that, I holstered my axe and dove into the stream. I had to fight really hard to not take in gulps of the water while I was under the surface, the icy cold river trying to make my lungs gasp for air in a natural defence. With a sharp kick to the bottom of the river, I forced myself to the top of the surface, hurriedly wiping away the water out of my eyes so that I could see the kids. They weren’t that far away from me, Duck still doing his best to hold the younger girl out of the water but struggling to keep his own head above water.

“Duck, come towards me!” I called out to him, seeing him try his absolute best to fight both the current and head towards me. He at least managed to keep himself in one spot long enough for me to reach them with my bigger muscles and longer limbs, with me hurriedly sweeping both kids into my arms. “There we go, I’ve got you!”

“Mum!” Clementine was ecstatic to see me, clinging onto my left shoulder as I let Duck hold onto the other. They both clung tightly onto me, which was exactly what I needed to let me focus on keeping all three of us upright. I began to let myself float on my back, carefully keeping their heads (and mine) above water while I let my feet be the first thing to go downstream. It wasn’t going to be that fantastic to have my legs or feet bang into a rock when we were going downstream, but it was far better than getting someone’s head bashed onto the rock. “Where are we going?!”

“We’re going to let the river do most of the work, I’ll keep us upright! We need to wait for a place where the water is going much slower or where we could float towards some kind of shore!” I made sure to tell them that, wanting them to conserve their energy for the moment that we would have an opportunity to scramble out onto a river bank. I couldn’t crane my head back to see if any of our group was following behind us, lest I get an eyeful or noseful of water, so instead I had to rely on the sight of either kid in my arms. “Are the others behind us?!”

“I can’t see anyone!” Duck gave the unfortunate news, as frankly I had expected something like that. They likely were far too busy with people shooting at them to hear my request, and even if they had there would have been confusion from several people on how they would have gotten the cows to come in after them.

“…Well, alright” I decided that it was best to conserve my energy for actually getting out of the river rather than stress about what could have happened, fully concentrating on what I was supposed to be doing. It was likely going to be easy for them to travel around on foot to find the location that we were swept down to anyway, plus we had two years before we really needed to be at that cabin anyway, so we had plenty of time. “We’ll be alright you two, I’ll sort something out”

And just like that, I allowed myself to be washed away with the river, those two kids in tow.


	2. In the Shallows

It was several hours later that I could see the little shore from the second season. Even if the half broken dock and crashed canoe weren't the obvious indicators, it almost seemed like the universe was trying to push us towards the shore with the way the stream's speed seemed to slow down tremendously.

"Here, we s-should get out h-here" I managed to say those words through my chattering teeth, feeling the sudden chill sweeping through the air when I scrambled out of the water with those kids. Instantly the wind was turning my body into a Popsicle, so sadly the idea of falling asleep for a while on the shore was not going to be a good idea. "F-Fire, we should b-be making a f-fire"

"I still got a flint in my pocket!" Duck dug into his pockets, pulling out the thing he had used around three hours before to help light the fire along with Shawn. It surprised me that it hadn't somehow been lost in our trip down the stream, but I wasn't going to be looking a gift horse in the mouth.

"We can get some wood and stuff around here" Clementine noticed that we were early enough in that spot to take the broken pieces of wood from that dock, as it hadn't been swept away. It seemed that wasn't the only thing that was assisting us, as we also had some help in the fact that the weather wasn't raining torrentially down onto us unlike the game would in that same night. "You can wait here for us to collect some if you want"

"N-No, that's n-not a good id-dea" I fought past the chattering of my teeth and the strong desire to just listen to that idea, as I couldn't afford to stay still. Remaining stationary would just make the cold seep in faster into my skin, and dying of hypothermia was most definitely _not_ how I was going out after surviving so much already. "I n-need to move around, o-otherwise I'll f-freeze"

I was much slower than the both of them, both children luckily having to not expend as much energy as I had in the river. After helping the kids to hand me the much heavier wooden planks and such, I tasked the two of them to get much smaller twigs and kindling to make lighting it all much easier. They came back in record time, carrying bundles of the stuff in their arms, which we managed to get together in a neat pile.

It seemed that Shawn had managed to teach Duck a thing or two, as within minutes we had a decent fire going, which was only growing bigger as we slowly built it up. The warmth from the flames served to heat up my blood steadily, even soon fixing the chatter that had built up in my teeth. While the fire started to steadily dry our clothing, I started to already plan for what the three of us could accomplish before the group caught up with us, softly patting my own clothing to see what I had on me.

"Alright, do either of you have anything else in your pockets?" I asked the two children on either side of me what they might have had, as of course I didn't have a backpack on me when I had jumped in after them. They hadn't either, and the idea of waiting around on that shore with minimal food didn't sound like a good plan.

Feeling around in my own pockets and canvas pocket belt, I was ecstatic to find that I still had some protein bars tucked away as well as some dry bullets in another pocket, both lots of items being kept safe because of the fact my belt seemed to be waterproof. In the final pocket that actually seemed to contain something, there was... The picture I had of Lee. While sentimentally important, it wasn't going to be something that kept me alive beyond mental support.

"I've still got my pistol" Duck reported on the only other thing that he had on him, it being safely tucked away in the holster we had managed to fit around his smaller waist. He had of course gotten it wet in the meantime, but some gentle cleaning and drying of the parts later would likely sort out that problem. "What about yours?"

"Mine? It should still be..." I absentmindedly reached backwards to grab my gun out of the back of my pants, only to find that it wasn't there. The only that had managed to stick around on my waist was the walkie-talkie that Clementine had given me very early on into the first season, and that was simply because it had a sturdy clip hanging onto my belt for dear life. My fire axe was also there, thank whatever deity exists, my leather axe holster keeping it secure despite the currents. "Ah, darn it. It must have tumbled out while I was swimming in the river"

"And I forgot my gun and walkie-talkie back at our camp" Clementine glumly informed us that she didn't have anything on her, as there really wasn't much that she could be carrying while she was wearing her little dress and tights. Now that she was getting older, she really needed pants and a holster for a weapon just like Duck did, but finding children's clothing stores were harder than I imagined it would have been. At the very least she still had her hat, which meant much more to her than just a piece of clothing. "Oh! Do you think you could reach the others with your walkie-talkie mum?"

"Good idea Clem, I didn't even think of that" I admitted that it wasn't the first thing that had popped into my mind, hoping that the thing's batteries still worked somehow. As I gently pet her head in appreciation of her idea, I pulled the machine off my belt and pressed the button down, hoping that it still worked despite the surprise bath that we had taken. "Hello, hello, can anyone hear us?"

When I released the button we got nothing in return. No static, nor garbled response or beeping noise that acknowledged that I had even pushed the button in the first place.

"...I think it broke" Duck could clearly guess just as well as I could that the thing wasn't going to be helping us with communicating, which was another thing preventing us from finding our group again. With not much else that the machine was useful for, I put it back onto my belt and focused on easing the minds of the two kids that had come with me. I could already see the slight doubt swirling in their minds, but the best I could do to help them was to hand out a protein bar each to the kids, which left my pocket with only one after I took one for myself as well. "...Aunt Prim, are the others coming to find us?"

"Of course they will, we mean the world to them" I momentarily ignored the strange name he had given me, brushing it off as nothing more than just some kind of weird child logic that he was applying to me. I was dating his god father; I was practically the mother to Clementine, something along the lines of either of those things. "Why?"

"Well, it's just... Those people from the woods looked really mean. Not meaner than the guy who took us in Savannah, but there were more of them" He clearly was worried about the people we had left behind, as of course the three of us had run off in the middle of the fight that was going on. And now that he was mentioning it, fifty people against around nine armed people from our side... Were not good odds at all.

Even if the fourteen members of our group somehow survived something as bleak as that, what even were the chances that they would figure out that I had dived into the river after the children? Surely a saner person would start looking immediately in the woods surrounding them if we had mysteriously disappeared, spreading out further and further in search of wherever we were, but certainly not looking at the river. They might have even started to head in the direction of Parker's Run which I had mentioned before the fight, hoping to meet up with us there because it was a destination they knew I was going towards.

"Mum, the sky!" Clementine clearly was noticing something going on in the sky above us, and my head immediately tilted upwards to see what she was sounding so worried about. The sky wasn't doing its usual tiny ripple, oh no... It was practically having an epileptic fit, spasming around as though it was threatening to tear itself apart from the inside out. The three of us kept watch of it as it kept going on for ages and ages compared to the little flickers in the past, lasting for several minutes before it stopped. After it was done, no changes seemed to have been made, that very same white blanket of clouds hovering over us. "What... What does that mean?"

"I..." _'don't know'_ was what I had originally meant to end that sentence with, but my throat tightened as a horrifying realisation seemed to strike me over the head. While I had never really been _certain_ what those sky ripples had meant, they had always happened in the past after I had saved someone from their original death in the games, so naturally I assumed that they had to be because I had saved people. No predetermined deaths were supposed to happen in that camp, as far as my memory could tell me, so... The only other option springing to my mind was the exact opposite of saving someone from their original death; that people had died a different death from their original intended version. "They..."

Both kids were deathly quiet as they waited for my answer, my mind racing to figure out what I was supposed to tell them. Was I supposed to lie to them that I actually had no clue, or was I supposed to bluntly tell them that I thought that they weren't going to be coming? Sure, there was the chance that a single person might have run away when everything else seemed hopeless (perhaps the teenagers after the adults perished protecting them?) or that the group finding our camp would have just simply taken the cows as their new stock, but...

"...I think we've lost them"

The kids didn't look like they completely understood what that meant. Hell, _I_ didn't understand even what it meant when I thought about it more clearly, but somehow they seemed to be the only words that I could get past my lips. In a way it was like Clementine's parents; we didn't know the absolute truth behind what had actually happened to them, we could possibly even hold onto the hope that they had all run away and were just missing... But the resulting answer certainly did seem to learn towards that we weren't ever going to see them again.

"...Get some sleep kids, we're going to have to leave here tomorrow morning" I took on that extremely difficult mantle to still keep myself functioning after that realisation, gently pulling both kids close to me so that it was easier for me to watch over them. There was nothing more that I wanted to do beyond falling asleep and letting myself lament the tremendous loss, but I forced my eyes and ears to stay alert for any dangers that came my way.

I clung onto those two kids desperately throughout the night, worried that somehow if I had fallen asleep that I would wake up and the two of them would be gone as well. Clementine spent the first hour crying on and off into my turtleneck sweater, clinging onto the material as the emotions poured out of her. I didn't allow myself the same luxury just yet (crying would make me crash after all, and I needed to stay awake until I was somewhere that I knew that I could sleep safely), letting her cry enough for the both of us. Duck, he just seemed to bury himself as far into my chest as he could manage, before going into his own fitful version of sleep.

...Ironic, I suppose. I had often thought to myself in the previous four months of living in that new world that even if I had been left behind with nothing but a single person, that I would still be perfectly content; that giving them a better ending than the one they had lived in the game would have been enough for me. The completely shattered parts of my soul contradicted those thoughts with cold efficiency.

Before I knew it, the sun was peeking ever so slightly through that white blanket of clouds at me. It had been eight hours since I had started keeping watch, but somehow that feeling of emptiness inside my heart made the time run away from me; making the passing hours seem closer to an eye-blink than anything else.

Like clockwork, the kids roused themselves the moment they registered that the sun was up. For a moment there were the first signs of confusion, not recognising where we were just yet because it clashed with their memory of the previous camp... Until the memories returned to them and reality set in for them.

"Good morning" I sounded a bit stiff as I addressed them, as I was unsure about what kind of tone I was supposed to really carry around them now. Being down and depressed was what my heart wanted, but my brain was telling me to be chipper so that they could recover faster from the deaths of... Everyone we had ever loved in this apocalypse. "Are either of you hungry?"

Both kids quietly mumbled that they were, which made me pull out the final protein bar that I had and shared it with the both of them. It was the last piece of food that I had for the time being, but keeping it didn't seem wise as we needed the energy for the coming day anyway.

"...Mum, please don't act like a robot" Clementine quickly picked up on my weird mannerisms, likely reminding her of a machine that was solely functioning because I thought it was necessary rather than because I truly wanted to live. It did serve to give me a bit of a shock, enough for some parts of me to resurface and function properly once more. "If you want to be sad, then be sad"

"Yeah! My... My mum said that actually letting yourself be sad is really important" Duck joined in with trying to get me to act normal again, which really painted the picture that I had been slowly trying to bury my emotions to live on... Which wasn't a good plan, definitely in the long run. Not only that, but he had powered through talking about his mother despite her possible death, which meant that the kids were already trying their best to support me in return of me caring for them. "So please... Just be Aunt Prim again"

The words hit me like a brick wall, breaking the emotional walls that I had been trying to build up overnight. I finally allowed myself to cry, only just barely stopping from wailing out loud because we couldn't afford to make too much noise, letting everything flow out for just a moment. Duck and Clementine even came back over to me to hug and hold me tight as I sobbed softly, the extra warmth and love from them fixing what little pieces of my soul that they could.

"...Thank you" I thanked them twenty minutes later, taking a deep breath to settle what little bits of sadness that still lingered underneath the surface. Those twenty minutes were important however, them refreshing me enough so that some of the sleep in my system got pushed aside for a while longer. "Alright, let's get back on track. I'm still planning on heading towards West Virginia to find that group from the second season; do you guys still want to come with me?"

"Of course we do!" Duck huffed a little, putting his hands on his hips like a stern parent with their child, which I couldn't help but laugh a little at. Sometimes he truly did act older than he actually was at that point, as most people wouldn't have guessed that he was eleven and that Clementine was nine. That world did serve to make kids grow up much faster than a non-apocalyptic one (at the very least, in mental terms), that much was certain. "Honestly Aunt Prim, you need us as much as we do you!"

"Of course, how could I forget?" The feeling of laughter passing through my system did help just that little bit, smoothing over some of the rougher edges that were my feelings at the time. And hey, he was correct, I certainly needed them in more than just the sense that I wanted to take care of them. Being on my own without them might have just been that much worse, with nobody to help me... It was a situation that I never wanted to experience. "Anyway, right now we need to focus on the basics more than anything else. Food is the very first thing, but any sort of weapon for the two of you would be great"

"And another gun for you" Clementine reminded me, as of course the only person in our trio by that point who was carrying a ranged firearm was Duck. From her words, it was quite clear that firing a gun was never really going to be her most favourite thing in the world despite her admittedly good aim now that she knew how they worked.

"Better clothes for the both of you as well, if we can find them" I started to make a sort of bucket list in my head, with food being at the very top, weapons being the next one after and better clothing for the children. Clementine seemed to do her once in a blue moon act of pouting at me in a childish manner (honestly, it was getting to be a bit more than once in a blue moon with the rate she was going at it), obviously thinking that there was nothing wrong with her current set of clothing. "Don't make that face at me young lady, there are absolutely no pockets on that dress of yours"

"Pockets aren't everything" She disagreed with me on that fact, and I suspected it was because that dress of hers also had sentimental value with it like her hat did. Perhaps it was a gift from her mother at one point, or the simple fact it was the dress I had found her in (which meant that it had to have been hers). Ergo, she was reluctant to give it up.

"I think you'll agree with me once you actually have pockets of your own" I made the executive decision that we were getting her new clothing whether she liked it or not, just like I had back when I had cut her hair for her. She grumbled like I expected her to, but I was quite certain that like the hair incident, she was going to be alright once she was actually in the new clothes. "Besides, you're going to grow out of that dress at one point anyway"

"Will I grow to be as tall as you one day Aunt Prim?" Duck asked me as he stood up with me, as by that point he was only about two-thirds my height. But considering the fact that he only was eleven, there was a good chance that someday in the future I was going to be looking up at him, and not down.

"Who knows, maybe" I decided to not answer that question, as for some reason the thought of him growing up so fast worried me. After momentarily finding the moment funny (as I had run into the same problem with Katjaa one time when I was wanting to teach the young boy how to fire a gun), it was time to go. "Let's go kids, stay close to me. Duck, you let me know if you're running low on ammo, I still have some on me"

"Yes Ma'am!" Duck acknowledged with a salute, with Clementine giggling softly to herself before she too stood up and followed behind me.

As I helped the kids climb onto the broken dock to move into the forest, I pulled out the picture of Lee momentarily to look at it. With another small request from me mentally for Lee to watch over not only me, but Clementine and Duck as well, I gently kissed the picture once more before placing it away in my canvas belt.

Clambering up onto the dock (with a little help from the kids, as they were still doing their best to haul me up despite the fact that it was obvious that most of the work was coming from me), we soon set off into the forest in search of the campground that I knew couldn't be that far away. Only once we got going along did I add another thing onto the list of important things to keep an eye out for; the people from the second season.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you'd like to help me earn a living but still make beautiful stories, then please consider supporting me on Ko-Fi! https://ko-fi.com/destinyxdarkness


	3. Man's Best Friend

I wandered through that forest, mainly letting my instinct guide me on where I was supposed to be going up and down the paths. In a way, I was split into two different personalities in that universe; one side of me being optimistic for things going much better in that new world with my choices _finally_ actually making a difference, but then there was the seasoned veteran of the game who looked at things with a stern focus that reminded me that the universe was likely going to try and bite me in the rear if I wasn't careful.

"Should we be worried about bears?" Clementine asked me as she pointed off to one of the forgotten signs posting the pathway we were walking down; one that warned travellers of various animal dangers in the forests that we were going through. At first I was going to tell her that we wouldn't have to worry at all about bears simply because the game never had a scripted event with one... But then again, there wasn't a scripted event with around fifty scavengers at the camp, so that was possibly a dangerous assumption to make.

"...I don't know actually" I realised that I didn't know if walkers would even be interested in eating a bear (just as much as I didn't know if they were going to be interested in Maybelle and Bramble from our old group), and I _most certainly_ didn't know what I was supposed to do if we happened to encounter a bear ourselves. In Britain we didn't have bears... Or wolves for that matter, so discussions about ways to solve those problems never really cropped up. "Duck, do you know what we're supposed to do if we run into a bear?"

"Be real noisy! They usually don't actually like to come near people, so being loud let's them avoid humans" Duck knew much more than I did, as honestly my first guess had been to play dead if we ran into one. Unfortunately, his solution did have a big back-draw with how I liked to move through the forest. "If one does come along, we only need to worry if it has cubs or if it's eating"

"But if we're loud, we're also going to be heard by walkers" Clementine pointed out the flaw in his logic before I could, and immediately Duck's face scrunched together in confusion. Before long he seemed to understand that shouting for a long time would bring us more trouble than good, so he softly muttered an 'oh', before seemingly thinking hard about how he was supposed to solve that problem. "Do guns help against bears?"

"No, they usually don't work. Kenny... Kenny often told me that when I said that we should shoot them"

The mood instantly dipped the moment his god father was brought up in conversation, as not only did that handlebar moustache wearing southerner mean a lot to the kids as a secondary father figure but he meant the world as a lover to me. Not only was he one of the very first crushes I had ever had on the people from the game (and that universe) but meeting him in the flesh made losing him that much harder. While as a poly person I never truly was ever going to have a "favourite" lover out of principle, in an alternate world where I was monogamous I could quite easily see myself picking him as my forever partner.

The sound of a rustling bush ahead of us distracted us from that macabre topic, instantly setting the three of us on alert with our earlier conversation about dangerous creatures in the woods. I had a feeling quite quick that it wasn't a bear simply because of how little movement it was generating in the bush ahead of us, and my initial gut instinct got proven right when a tan tail appeared out one end of the bush.

"A bear!" Clementine cried out of fear, clinging onto one of the belt loops in my jodhpurs for safety, as she knew that in times where we might be in trouble that I needed both of my hands free for my weapons. Luckily, it didn't matter all that much what she went for at the time, as the creature we had run into was most certainly not a bear.

"It's not a bear Clem, I actually think..." I softly spoke, trailing off a little bit as my attention focused on the creature turning around in the bush at the sound of our voices. When it was fully turned around it came gently out of the bush it had been searching around in, peering at us with its soft brown eyes. "It's a dog"

It was Sam, the dog that the player could encounter in the first episode of the second season. While it was hard to determine what sort of breed the dog was in the somewhat stiff and squarish style of animation in the game, in the flesh he looked quite close to a Australian Cattle Dog. With a mostly tan coat, only having some white on his stomach, he looked like a picture perfect representation of his in-game counterpart... Which sadly, was not that friendly of a dog when it came to food.

"Aww, it's a doggy! I wanna pet it!" Duck certainly seemed excited to see Sam, obviously having grown up around dogs to his mother's veterinarian job. I managed to grab him by the collar of his shirt before he could actually move forward to pet Sam, as I was on edge with seeing the four footed being, gently pulling Duck back to my side. "What?"

"Some dogs can be aggressive Duck, we don't know if it even likes people" I lied somewhat, as I knew from the game that Sam had previously been owned by a family. The picture found at the wrecked campsite seemed to suggest so anyway, but it still didn't eliminate the possibility of Sam being aggressive around food, and I wasn't going to take chances around my two children.

Sam didn't make a single negative gesture towards us, instead just tilting his head in that innocent way that most animals could do. In fact, looking closer I could see that he looked far better fed than he did in the game, likely because we had stumbled upon him two years before we were actually supposed to. Despite saying this, he did look a bit skinnier than a well fed dog did.

"...Were you looking for food in that bush?" I asked him despite full well knowing that he couldn't respond to me verbally, some part of my soul wanting to help the poor thing just like I had done for Maybelle and her child. The mere mention of being fed caused Sam to perk up his ears instantly, even wagging his tail and whining softly as he came closer. In a defensive gesture I slowly moved my hand to my fire-axe in the remote chance that I needed to use it immediately, but Sam did nothing more than sit politely in front of my feet like I was going to feed him. "Sorry bud, I've already given away all of my food for now. If you can be a good boy until we get back to your campsite, then maybe there'll be something that you can eat"

"Oh, you know him from the game?" Clementine was able to easily determine from my wording that I knew about Sam more than just as a casual dog that we stumbled upon, which did seem to confuse her a bit. After all, I was reacting to the dog with a heavily wary attitude about me, so that tipped things off to her that she had to also be more careful with him. "Is he bad?"

"Not bad per se, just really hungry when the player meets him" I skirted around the fact that Clementine was actually the player character from the second season, instead focusing on the more important details that both kids would need to know. "He reacts in a way that people know as being 'food aggressive', which means he is fiercely protective of food"

"Oh, I've heard of that saying! My... My mum talked about it sometimes with dogs that came into the vet" Duck seemed a bit down when he was reminded of his mother, but he quickly tried to cheer himself up and focused more on what he could do to help out. "But if he's from a camp, does that mean food?"

"It could mean that, but I'm not entirely sure" I made sure not to promise them that there would be food, as the disappointment would be easier to handle if there already was an element of uncertainty attached to it. Letting my mind return to the instinctual part of it, I wandered only a little further into the brush ahead of us in search of the camp that I knew was close by.

I only had to push aside a couple of branches in front of my face to find exactly what I was looking for, the left behind camper van and several tents being set up in a small area of bare ground in that forest. It was nowhere near as in ruins as we would find it in the game, the tents still being largely intact and the camper van even looking like it could be road worthy with a bit of work. I didn't have the tools nor supplies to repair it however, so the only thing that I could be doing with it would be to strip it for useful parts... After food was found first.

"In the game, there's a can of beans forgotten in this metal drum. Be careful though, there might be sharp things in it" I explained to the kids, patting the thing to show further that I meant that one. Duck immediately started to search in the leftover cans (as he had proven in the past that off-putting smells didn't affect him as much as they did Clementine), with Clementine instead coming with me over to the camper van to inspect it. Sam still obediently followed behind my ankles, reminding me a little bit of what Maybelle had done the fateful day I had rescued her as well, which served to endear the fluffy creature more and more towards me. "Let's have a bit of a look in here"

With that I softly rolled the door open, opening to an almost pristine set of beds set up inside the main compartment and a picture frame that showed a smiling family with their dog Sam. There didn't seem to be any food stored in boxes there, as the only box I could see contained several children's toys, but the thing that drew my attention much more than anything else was the set of candles on the floor near the front seats. It wasn't so much the presence of candles themselves, but more the fact the smell of them was quite evident in the air. Furthermore, when I gently felt one of the sides of the candles it was still quite warm to the touch.

"What's wrong mum?" Clementine could see the cogs spinning in my mind, a very concentrated look upon my face that usually meant that I had stumbled upon something slightly unexpected from the norm.

"...I don't think this campsite is abandoned" I informed both kids of what I was thinking of, even looking around the bit tree stump present on the far side of the camp to notice that there was no walker tied to it with a Swiss army knife in its shoulder. That likely meant that the walker found there was indeed the man in the picture, which also led me to the fact that the man was likely still alive and using the campsite as his home. Suddenly, digging through their supplies and garbage felt less like typical food collecting, instead leaning towards stealing their stuff like the group did with John's (more well known as the stranger in the fandom for the game, as his name was never mentioned in that universe) stuff out of his station wagon. While this universe revealed John to be nothing more than a lunatic that blamed our group for killing his children and wife (we didn't, they were long dead by the time we ever saw his station wagon), that didn't mean that I was keen on repeating the experience. "Darn. As much as I would really like the food and stuff from here, I'd rather not deal with another vengeful father going after us again"

"Can't we ask them nicely?" Duck asked me, lifting his head out of the half-full metal drum with two intact looking cans of beans. Just another case of this universe occasionally throwing me a bone, as anytime there was supposed to be a limited amount of food found at a location it seemed to give me much more than the game would (such as me finding four energy bars four months ago in the drug store that Lee owned, as well as me and Lilly's careful rationing plan making it that I had more food to feed people in the second episode of the fourth season). "I mean, why would they throw these both out if they didn't want them?"

"They might have done it by accident" I sighed, feeling my stomach growl just a little bit at the thought of having food directly within our grasp but having to let it go because of a moral principle. That, and the fact I didn't want to jinx another lot of angry people after us now that I was on my own with the two kids. "Let's just put them down and get going to the next place"

Before any of us could act upon that plan, we heard the sound of someone cocking a shotgun directly behind us. Muttering a obscenity under my breath, I slowly raised my hands over my head to give us the best chances of surviving without being loaded up with shotgun pellets in our backs.

"You kids do the same as your... Sister? Cousin? Whatever she is, just raise your hands" It sounded like it was a man demanding something of us, but I could hear some soft shuffling of feet near where he was, so it was possible that his entire family had come to greet us. Had I been more daring, I would have even sighed loudly about another person assuming that I was somehow related to either child, but I decided not to because I didn't want a sigh to potentially end my life. Besides, he couldn't see my face so it was likely that he couldn't even see the differences between myself and them anyway.

"Do you want me to drop these cans first or keep them in my hands?" While it did sound a bit silly to ask about that at first, it did actually make sense for Duck to ask about that before he did either option. If the guy holding the shotgun hadn't seen them at first there was the possibility that seeing Duck with them suddenly raised in the air could frighten him, and also in the opposite sense that the sudden thudding of them landing on the ground would be a bit startling.

"What are they?" The guy asked Duck, as though that somehow would make a difference. What was he thinking, that we had dynamite in a can or something?!

"Uh..." Duck softly uttered, quickly taking his eyes away from the guy to read the labels on the cans. "Family style beans"

"Sure, raise them" He finally gave a coherent answer to Duck, which enabled him to actually raise his arms finally. With that out of the way, we actually could get along to the part where he figured out why we were there. "You there, the older miss, turn around"

I did so slowly, hoping that it wasn't a case of him just wanting to look me in the eyes before he fired. When I did fully face him, he seemed surprised that I was as young as I was, not being to guess my age from my voice or my back.

"Jesus, you're young" The guy seemed to accept that as enough that we weren't about to shoot them all, lowing his shotgun slightly which allowed me to lower my hands with a sigh of relief. I mean, don't get me wrong, it did cross my mind to potentially shoot him if he threatened Duck or Clementine (and I had a gun), but I sure was going to use his naivety to my advantage if he thought our younger ages meant that we wouldn't be dangerous. "Sorry about that, can't be too careful with people nowadays"

"You're telling me, we escaped from a giant band of murderous scavengers just yesterday" I purposefully played on the fact that he thought we were nothing more than helpless young people, hoping that our sob story would earn us some food or leniency with him. It was potentially a rude thing to do, but I had just lost fourteen of the people I cared about the most in that world. Fuck niceties.

"Oh you poor darlings" The wife(?) of the guy seemed to take pity on us the moment I threw out that information casually, and apparently none of them seemed to really be that worried about me somewhat emotionally manipulating them. She must have seen the cans that Duck was then carrying, recognised them as the ones they had thrown out, and decided to cut us some slack by not demanding them back from us (especially considering the fact they had been thrown out in the first place). "I know those are past their expiry date, but do you want them by any chance? You must be starving if you were fine to be digging around in garbage for it"

"...Wait, that's why they were in there?" I asked them incredulously, as I had originally thought that they had been thrown away because of rust or another reason in the original game, something that would really be bad to ingest; not something as minor as it passing it's expiry date. Both of the parents nodded their head to my question, with the kid following suit a moment later that really drove home that they were being that weird about it. It was the moment that Sam came to sit at my feet again that I was reminded that the poor dog was probably starving, which furthered my confusion. "Okay, even if I don't really agree with that, I get it that you guys didn't want to eat them. By why didn't you open them to see if they were good for your dog Sam?"

"...Ah. See, that's kind of... Awkward" The guy with the shotgun began, scratching the back of his head in an obvious manner that seemed to say that he wasn't keen on immediately sharing what they were doing with their dog. Their daughter however, who was right in between them both, seemed to care enough about Sam to tell me why.

"Dad said that Sam is just an extra mouth to feed. The plan was to stop feeding him so that he would instead start hunting for his food, which would make it easier for us to survive instead" The little girl seemed sad to report that they were no longer feeding their family pet, her looking glumly at the way Sam was softly whining at my feet for food rather than loyally standing beside her. "He's getting really skinny..."

I looked down at how excited Sam was to potentially be getting food from me, a complete stranger, simply because I had mentioned the word food a couple of times in his presence. If he truly was that excited to see a random stranger than his actual owners, then... Goodness only knows how long he had gone without food.

"...He's not really looking for his food yet, but I guess that makes sense because he never was a stray or hunted before in his life" The guy kept talking, and honestly the more I was listening to him the more I was getting annoyed with his messed up logic. I could never imagine holding back food from Maybelle and Bramble when we were looking after them, so you could imagine how far I would go to take care of a dog if it had been in my care from the first day of the apocalypse. "But the instinct to hunt should be somewhere in him, right?"

"Are you really willing to bet his life on that? You'd rather let him starve than feed him beans that are past his expiration date?" I was starting to suspect that Sam's food aggression from the game was nothing more than extreme hunger (or even worse, just the weird logic of the game developers), leading him to literally wanting anything that was given to him in the game. "Duck, would you mind handing me one of those cans of beans? At the same time, Clem, can you find a dog bowl or something?"

Duck had the much easier task of giving me one of the two cans he was carrying in his hands, while Clementine went in search of a bowl for Sam. The daughter could tell quite quickly what we were going to do, so she scurried over to help Clementine, while I turned over the can to read the expiration date out of curiosity. The moment I found it, I seriously was considering using the can as a projectile to bludgeon the parents heads in... It was only a week past the expiration date.

"Here you go" The little girl came over excitedly, holding out a bowl that had Sam's name imprinted upon it. I took it from her with a smile, thankful that at least somebody in that family seemed to care about their dog.

"Thank you" I courteously extended my thanks to her, not even having to fake it towards her unlike her parents. Clementine didn't come back empty handed, in fact finding a can opener for me to use. Opening the can was far easier with that than my fire axe, and I could already see Sam doing an excited dance in anticipation. "Good boy Sam, can you sit for me?"

Sam did his best to obediently sit his butt down, but you could still see the excited wiggle in his tail. I praised him anyway for trying his best under the circumstances anyway, and gently lowered the bowl down onto the ground after all of the beans from one can was deposited safely in it. There was absolutely no anger coming off him, no lunging or snapping at all. He even patiently waited until I drew my hand back to go for it, practically taking giant mouthfuls of the beans.

He finished the food in a matter of minutes, licking down the added syrup and everything to make sure that he didn't miss anything. Once it was all gone he was ecstatic, his tail going a million miles an hour as he gently bumped his head into my leg. When I knelt down to give him some pats he started to give me lots of kisses on my face, practically burying himself in my arms when I gave him the option. Duck and Clementine took me patting him as permission that he was friendlier than I had first expected, soon joining in with me to pet them. Even the little girl joined in, and soon Sam was rolled over on his stomach getting pet by everyone at once, completely at bliss.

I pointedly decided to look back over to both of the parents still lingering on the outskirts, staring at them with disappointment in my eyes at this. Starving their dog to the point where a stranger had to come along to feed him, and now that stranger essentially was seen as the better to be around.

"I think it might be better if Sam came along with us" I suggested the idea aloud to that family, as there was no way that Sam was going to be properly looked after if I left him behind with them. Even if the little girl was going to be sad without her dog, I think she would appreciate the fact that I would take very good care of him.

"N-Now hold on a moment-

"Harold, wait" The wife stopped her husband from protesting against the idea, clearly thinking that it was going to be better for both parties that Sam changed owners. "Think about it, we don't have the food to take care of him. He can help keep them safe if they're moving through America, and I think she's going to make the right decisions for him"

Harold remained quiet for a good long while, obviously thinking hard on what he was supposed to say to that. His mind finally got made up when he looked back over to the four of us, Sam happily lying on his back with us, that the answer seemed to be clear to him... No matter how heart-breaking it was.

"...Take care of him" He gave permission for my group of three to adopt him, which we were more than happy to do.

"I plan to" I gave him the closest thing I could to a promise, standing up away from Sam to prepare to leave. Tucking away the last can of beans in one of my pocket belt (and being graciously given the can opener from earlier as another gift that could clip onto my belt), we had to move on again. We had a cabin group to save after all, and I was certainly planning on finding them with our new companion along for the ride. "Come on Sam, you can come with Clem, Duck and I"

Sam barked once as though to show that he understood me perfectly, following behind me with a bounce in his step. Already I could see that it raised the spirits of Clementine and Duck with me, the both of them eager to look after Sam just like Sam was more than happy to be with us. While it didn't completely fix the void of the fourteen from the first season for the three of us... It certainly helped us move onward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoy my work, please consider supporting me on ko-fi!  
> Links are either in my previous chapter or on my profile page.


	4. Nature Lives On

After we adopted Sam, our search for the cabin group truly began. As much as we tried to find the correct cabin, there was always something wrong with the ones that we found that made sure to dispel the idea that I could recognise it. No shed, sometimes no second floor, no fireplace, it wasn't on a slope, it didn't have a crawl space underneath the first floor, the wrong amount of bedrooms, the inside just looked wrong... The list went on, each new cabin seemingly finding something new to pick apart from the cabin. After the fourth cabin, it became a habit for us to walk into the cabin, and the kids would look at me with a look in their eyes that seemed to say 'this isn't the one, is it?'. And sadly, the answer was always that they were correct; they weren't the one I wanted.

The one benefit of those cabins were that they often had hidden stashes of food; the kind that lasted a long time because of the remote location and how long people often wanted to spend their time on holiday. Not only food, as there was often a good chance of finding warm clothing that were left behind by people before they had to go home, which we gladly checked over for anything useful. The clothing that was too big for the kids was at least useful for me, as when the winter rolled around I was really appreciative of the pitch black polo sport jacket that was left behind. We even ended up finding the familiar looking purple shirt and jeans that Clementine wore in the second season, a makeshift jacket for Sam in the colder months of the year, as well as some small flannel shirts and grey pants for Duck. Like I had expected, once Clementine actually had the new clothing on (especially when winter came by the first time), she was extremely appreciative of the clothing.

Besides clothing and food, both Duck and I had acquired rifles that we were able to use proficiently (after I trained him on how to use it), as well as a new pistol for myself and Clementine. After we got new backpacks, and a survival knife and screwdriver for the kids, we were fully kitted out as a group for almost anything in our way.

With each passing cabin, the time seemed to slip away from me. It was only when I was preparing to celebrate Duck's thirteenth birthday did it really; truly occur to me that two years had gone by. The moment I realised that, there was a small hint of fear in my mind that I had missed the cabin group somehow, but I did my best to ignore it; it was only going to spoil the apricots I had found that night anyway.

"Mum, there's a clearing ahead" Clementine told me, pointing off in the distance towards a sunny clearing ahead of us. From afar it seemed to look like an old forgotten logging camp, various heavy machinery being left behind when the walkers appeared two years prior. While a little eerie, it was undoubtedly going to provide some good supplies. "I don't see any alive people, but there are some things that they could be hiding behind"

"Good spotting darling" I praised her, gently patting her head as usual. She had grown quite a bit in the two years that we had been searching, enough that I didn't have to bring my hand that far down to do that... And part of me wondered when she was going to consider herself "too old" for pats on the head anymore. "Sam, search"

Sam perked his ears up at the command, bringing his nose down to the ground and moving forwards into the clearing to look for walkers. I learned that you certainly could teach an old dog new tricks, as I had managed to instil some new commands in him, one of which was the ability for him to sniff out any walkers (and supplies, if he didn't find any of the former in our location), his superior nose often finding them before we could do so visually. Not only that, as I finally had an answer to my question of whether walkers responded to animals; the answer being that they didn't, instead being more interested in the flesh of humans or the smell of blood. There was a remote possibility that they _might_ go for animals if they had no humans in the vicinity, but that was not very likely.

"Do you think they'll have ammo in this camp?" Duck asked me, walking beside me as he peered into the clearing through his binoculars, something that he had gotten from one of the cabins that we had raided. Ever since he had hit puberty he grew at an astounding rate, him being nearly as tall as I despite the fact he still had growing to do. He was only about a head shorter than I was and his hair had grown slightly out in the meantime, but he still was the dorky Duck that I knew; regardless of how more grown up he looked in the meantime. "Because I'm running low on rifle ammo. You could probably also uUUse it for your rifle"

...And he was also just beginning to have his voice crack at several instances, something he was more than a little embarrassed about. Clementine and I had learned that the better thing was just to ignore the moments when it happened, which made it a lot easier on Duck.

"Ruff!" Sam barked to get our attention, the signal meaning that he had found something for us to look at. We waited just a little longer on the outskirts to see if we could hear any obvious sounds of walkers responding to the noise made by him, and once we heard nothing of the sort we headed in.

It was clear to see that Sam had found a walker, as he stood below the glass box of one of the machines growling at the thing inside. The walker proceeded to try and lunge for Sam because of the noise, but it was clear that he wasn't going anywhere due to him being trapped in the chair. Duck handled it long before anyone else could ask him to, him carefully climbing up the steps to the compartment, opening the door before swiftly stabbing his survival knife into its head.

"Darn, nothing really special on him" Duck seemed disappointed that the walker didn't have anything useful in its pockets, no bullets or anything that we could use. He did end up pulling out what seemed like a plastic sandwich bag from a rear pocket, but whatever had been inside had gone mouldy a long time ago. "Gross"

Other than the machines, there was a small portable cabin that had been brought into the middle of the camp, likely used as the main spot for sleeping for the workers that had manned the camp while it was still in operation. Taking some time to look at the machines that had long been dead, I could notice the way that the forest seemed to be trying to take over the location once again. Vines and ivy spread over anything that didn't seem like it was made in nature, and there were even some signs on the stumps that had been cut down that they were trying to grow back into the mighty trees that they were once. It truly did remind you that the world had been existing long before humans had come along... And honestly, it was doing just fine without the majority of us.

"There's a walker in the cabin mum" Clementine informed me of something that she had figured out while I had been distracted, which made me walk back over to her and the two boys waiting by the door of the cabin. If anything, the kids had become so capable that I didn't even need to constantly be on guard, which made living that bit easier because I could truly unwind without worrying about dying. "The door was locked when I tried it, so I thought that someone would have locked it from the inside. I knocked to see if something responded, and I heard growling"

"Nice work" It felt like there was never going to be a time when I wasn't praising them, and I didn't mind that at all. I had passed on everything I could teach them about (first aid, basic things to do with machine engines, lock picking, using different kinds of guns), so I felt confident in not just trusting them with everything, but also that if the worst were to happen to me that they would be able to live on beyond me. "Do you know if there are multiple?"

"It sounded like one, but I've got my rifle ready in case there's more" Duck already had his gun at the ready, confidently slotting in one of the last two bullets that he had for it. While we certainly weren't ever going to go compete Rambo with our guns, I had instilled the attitude of 'better safe than sorry' into them in terms of when to use their guns against walkers... Or people. After all, we'd rather have no ammo for a gun than lose one of our quartet. "Do you want to do the lock picking, or shOOould Clem?"

"Clem can do it, as I did the last one" I decided on that, as any extra bit of practise for the both of them was going to be better than just making me do it all the time. The kids were just as good at it as I was, but there was always the chance that they could get that little bit better if we took turns. "I'll hold the door so that it won't unexpectedly open and bang into your face Clem. If there's just one, you can handle it with your screwdriver"

Clementine nodded her head confidently, as the screwdriver she had gotten seven months prior was her preferred weapon of choice. And because I had taught the two kids early about going for the knees if the walker/human was taller than them, we never had to worry about our weapons being too short for the job.

"Got the door" Clementine unlocked the door in a record amount of time, which meant that we were going to get in without a single bit of trouble. "Ready"

Once she gave the signal I turned the knob on the door and let the walker out, it immediately surging out because of the slight noise of the wind attracting it towards us. Clementine didn't have to spend time on getting its knees out, as the walker stumbled over a slight lip in the doorway, which made it face-plant directly into the dirt after she calmly sidestepped out of its way. With a simple stab to the back of the head while it was still stuck there, the walker was handled.

"No other walkers Duck, you can put your rifle away" I informed him, as there were no other noises or visual cues that another one was going to come out a little bit later. That, and Sam was completely silent. With our weapons put away, we moved into the cabin and closed the door behind us for some security.

The portable cabin was heaven compared to falling asleep in the woods, as the very first thing that we could spot was a big queen sized bed bolted to the floor in the middle of the combined kitchen, dining and bedroom. We didn't even have to worry about changing the sheets or anything, as the walker had no use for it while it was in there, it being pristine besides some vague amounts of dust on it's surface.

There also was a shower in the back part of the cabin, just a little bit away from a toilet. I tried twisting the knob to see if any water came out, but like I expected there was absolutely nothing coming from it.

"No water from the shower, sadly" I sighed a bit at the realisation, as it meant that we couldn't take a shower for the fourth month in a row by that point (the other complete cabins with their own water tanks had spoiled us a little in contrast). Ah well, at least the bed was a big upgrade.

"Ugh!" Duck exclaimed from next to me, immediately slamming down the toilet lid that he had opened. A second after I also caught the horrendous smell wafting through the air, answering that the cabin had its own contained sewage system, but it hadn't been cleared out or cleaned in years. "That smells disgusting!"

"It doesn't smell any worse than you do" Clementine teased Duck, the both of them clearly becoming much closer in the two years now that they just had each other as friends to grow up with. Duck tried to appear mad in response, but you could clearly see the grin fighting its way on his face. "Heck, you could take a shower in it and you'd still probably smell better"

Duck just responded by gently shoving Clementine backwards onto the bed, her landing with a soft thud before the both of them started to laugh in the privacy of the cabin. Part of me wanted to go motherly mode on them, reminding Duck that shoving her was dangerous because he was getting to be much stronger than her, but I knew that he had expressly made sure that she was going to land safely before he did it. So instead, I just grinned at the close relationship that they had between them, heading to the kitchenette instead to find food.

...Huh, I supposed that I still didn't know the answer to Kenny's long forgotten question by that time; what kind of relationship the two kids actually had. Were they just extremely good friends - possibly even extending to seeing each other as siblings - or where they interested in each other romantically but just had no clue what those feelings were supposed to be? In the end, the answer ended up being the exact same as when Kenny had questioned it; it was ultimately something up to them to decide.

"Guess what Sam!" I excitedly started talking to the dog waiting patiently at my feet, as I had found something really good left behind in the freezer of the kitchenette. While the freezer obviously hadn't been running for a long time, it still kept three cans of tomatoes in perfect condition as well as a bag of freeze dried pasta. But the most exciting had to no doubt be the bag of beef jerky, which I brought out and gently shook. Sam recognised the sound immediately, doing his usual excited dance whenever food was involved. "Good boy Sam, sit"

Sam sat down obediently and took the piece of jerky that I held out to him, crunching on it happily as I began to search for more food. While I didn't find more food, there was a gas bottle hooked up to the cooktop and some forgotten pots left behind in the cupboards, which meant that there was the possibility of actually cooking our food. I did make sure that it was safe to use the gas bottle (checking for leaks, seeing if I could smell gas in the air, etc.), but soon there was a pot of tomatoes and pasta cooking away for us.

"Does this count as Italian food?" Duck asked me that once I actually started to evenly divide the food between the four of us (sprinkling in some extra bits of jerky on top as well, as all of us needed our protein), and I paused for a moment as I looked down at the combination of food I had made for us.

"...I think so? The Italians did love their tomatoes after all" I could only guess whether or not the food counted as Italian, as I didn't have a single bit of Italian blood in me. Was it considered sacrilegious to put beef jerky in tomatoes to them? I had eaten their food in the past in Britain, but that didn't really make me an expert. "Why?"

"When I was little, there was this really expensive Italian place near the docks where Kenny used to work" Duck recounted a memory that I never had the ability to learn about in the game, as Duck hadn't lived long enough in that canon to ever talk about it. I was always happy to learn something new about the people in that new universe however, so I listened intently to his tale. "Mum promised that we could go on my eighteenth birthday, even though it was expensive. But seeing as that place isn't going to be open any longer... I was wondering if I should see this as my birthday gift"

Part of me really wanted to say that we would be able to do another thing on his actual eighteenth birthday, but I could tell that the problem he was having wasn't because of the particular timing of his first Italian meal... It was about who was missing. I couldn't promise that we'd be able to find Kenny and Katjaa and have a proper celebration like that when he turned eighteen, because...

"...What do you guys want for your next birthday's?" I decided that I wanted to focus more on what I _could_ do for them rather than what I couldn't, so I started planning for the future instead. No matter how silly or improbable, I was going to try my best to achieve whatever they asked of me.

"I kind of miss having sundaes" Clementine did think of something, and it made me laugh softly as it reminded me of something that she could jokingly remark in the second season. ' _A sundae would be better next time'._

"Done" I decided that it was something that I could attempt; no matter how unlikely it would be for me to find ice cream in the new world. I'd likely have to substitute some things, but it was doable. "What about you Duck?"

"Hey hold on a moment, now that I think about it, we haven't celebrated your birthday!" Duck realised this new piece of information with a startled shout, the both of them completely forgetting for a long time that I also had aged two years. Even more embarrassing was the fact that _I_ had forgotten about it as well, completely focusing on their survival and happiness rather than mine most of the time. "How old are you now anyway?"

"Oh, goodness me, I must be..." A small bit of my Britain heritage showed itself when I spoke, as some of my old British accent shined through in moments when I was taken by surprise. "...I think I'm twenty-three now"

"Happy late birthday" Clementine giggled softly as my face turned red at my forgetfulness, it being made even worse when Duck chimed in with another piece of information.

"Happy late birthday times twoOOo!"

"Alright hush, both of you eat your food" I mumbled for them to keep eating their food lest it go cold, even showing a spoonful of the stuff in my own mouth to stop myself from saying anything else further. They laughed at how sheepish I got all of a sudden, before eventually listening to me and finishing off their own food. "I'll keep watch tonight, so you both can go to sleep once you're done"

"But-

"No but's Duck, you kept watch last night and Clementine did the night before" I cut off both kids before they could protest further, gently taking both bowls off them after I noticed that there was nothing more for them to eat. Duck chuckled a little with how insistent I was being, but he did oblige my request and rolled over on the bed to fall asleep. After Sam was done eating his food too, he gently crawled onto the bed at Duck's back, and like a switch the both of them were off in the land of dreams. "Honestly, it makes me jealous how easily you guys fall asleep"

For a while there was silence in the cabin, with only a vague couple of noises coming from me as I put the bowls in the sink. I tried the tap to see if that would give us any water, but like the shower, it did nothing.

"Mum?" Clementine softly spoke after she was done checking the length of her hair out in the bathroom mirror, and I softly hummed a response that told her that I was listening to her. "How do you know if you like someone?"

"Like a friend, or romantically?" I asked her, as I could never really pick out the difference when people were talking about 'liking' someone in the past. Not to mention the lines of romantic and platonic love were quite a bit different for me, especially with my bisexual and polyamorous feelings being listened to quite intently.

"...Romantically"

That caused me to actually listen to what Clementine was saying fully, as there only was really one option for why she was asking about that sort of thing to me. I highly doubted she felt anything romantic for me, and we hadn't really run into any other groups with kids her age, so that left only one real other option.

"Oh? How come?" I pretended to be ignorant of who she might be talking about, even though she likely knew that I was fully aware that we were talking about Duck. The very first hint came in the fact that she had waited for him to fall asleep before she had asked me about it. Luckily, she wasn't intent on tiptoeing around the subject, instead just barging straight to the question that she wanted to know about.

"See, it's about Duck" Clementine said that, and only at the last second did I decide to not feign surprise at that remark. "I like him... Like, a lot. But I'm kind of worried that's just there because he's the only other kid"

"Oh, you're worried that it's just your mind saying that you have to because there's no other choice?" I could kind of understand that sentiment, as there had been some times in my old life that I had been interested in guys because they showed interest in me... But after some consideration I had only liked them because they showed interest in me first, which made me reconsider liking them. "That kind of feeling is normal Hun, even I dealt with it when I was in school"

"You did?" She asked me, obviously surprised to hear that it was a common thing even before people were isolated like we were in the apocalypse. I nodded my head, coming to sit beside her on the bed after I figured out that I couldn't really clean the bowls we had eaten out of, but she still seemed flabbergasted. "But you never seemed to have that problem with the ten guys from... You know"

"That's because I cared about all ten of those guys, and they liked me. It would have been a different story if one of them was really mean but he liked me" I tried to get past the hurdle of talking about our past group, as it was going to likely be something to come up way more than just once in the discussion of romantic feelings; especially because of the fact that many of them had been my lovers back then. "Like, um... Say if Larry was the only one who liked me, but he still was an ass to me"

"Gross" Clementine pulled a face at the example that I gave to her, and I was inclined to agree with that sentiment.

"Yeah, you're right, that was a gross example" I shivered a little on the spot at the thought of that nasty old piece of work liking me remotely like that, but shrugging it off to get back to the main point that I was trying to get at. "But the difference is that you like him, not that he only likes you. Say if there were other kids in our group that you could choose from, with a number of them liking you, would you still consider picking Duck?"

Clementine paused, considering my words carefully. Eventually her eyes glanced over towards Duck, watching him peacefully sleep next to Sam for a bit, before she turned back to me with a look in her eyes that seemed to say that she wasn't as confused by it anymore.

"I think so" She effectively answered her own question, and I gave her a smile that tried to convey that feelings weren't that difficult; you just had to listen to what your own body was telling you.

"Try to listen to what you're heart tells you; it'll often steer you towards the choice that you think is the best" I ended the discussion on a strong note, leaving her with what I believed to be the best advice. She smiled at me, before softly hugging me in a warm display of daughterly love.

I returned the hug, feeling that it was as if I had always been her mother from the moment she had been born. Even though I had never actually raised a child myself, I still think that I was doing a pretty good job of it. My mother (and everybody else who had ever had a child) always told me that there was no real guideline to raising a child; that most people were figuring it out as they went along. But if you were to ask me, Duck and Clementine were figuring out that along with me.


	5. Salvation At Last

The following morning we headed back out, aiming for the next stop in our long journey through those massive forests. Part of me felt like I was just being stupid in our stubborn search for the cabin group... But I couldn't find it in me to give up on trying to find them. After all, like Clementine's parents in a way, the moment I gave up looking would essentially be the moment when I accepted that they likely weren't going to survive their events. And after losing the people from the first season... I didn't want to repeat that.

We came to a rare sight in those forests; a very long road cutting between the trees and brush, even more seeming like a strange addition to the nature around us when we spotted a gas station only a couple of minutes down that same road. It likely had been looted a long time ago, but we often still found things left behind that were considered unimportant by the first wave of scavengers, so the four of us headed that way. There even were some pathways leading down towards a deeper part of the forest across from the gas station, which likely was going to be our next target after we were done at the station.

The closer we got to that gas station, the more a strange nervous energy seemed to build up in my gut. I definitely didn't have good memories surrounding gas stations, as the very first one that myself, Shawn and Kenny had gone into stuck in my memory quite vividly, but it was more than just that. This feeling in my gut... Was far too familiar feeling, an almost exact replica of the one that had been hanging over my head two years prior in Savannah, just moments before I had nearly been bitten.

"Is everything alright mum?" Clementine asked me softly as I paused in our trek, the worry likely showing itself on my face. I wasn't sure how I was supposed to explain it to either of them, as the both of them had been missing that time when I had just barely been saved by my own hair. But then again, the notion of knowing the future was already crazy enough as it was, so I tried my best to tell them about it anyway.

"I... I occasionally have these really bad feelings, like something bad is about to happen to me" I didn't go into too much detail about why those feelings came around, as of course I didn't know the exact details behind them. "I had it once before when we were in Savannah, and I ignored it for a long time because I was stressed out. I nearly got bitten by a walker that day, so... I'm listening to the feeling way more this time"

"Should we skip the gas station?" Duck offered the alternative, as that option would of course completely skip past anything bad happening in that building. While the paranoid part of my mind wanted to take that option, the practical side told me that we couldn't afford to skip past any sort of food as well as the fact that we shouldn't just skip past something the moment I got a twinge in my gut.

"No, I just think we really need to keep close to each other in this building" I at least decided to employ the buddy system, something that I hadn't really thought about in a long time. It was something that Glenn and I reinforced a lot when we had a much larger group, as sometimes our increased numbers would make us a little careless. "Besides, we also have Sam with us that can watch out for us a bit more intently. Isn't that right boy?"

"Arf!"

With that settled, we quickened our pace a little so that getting through the gas station would only take a short amount of time. Just like my memory seemed to tell me the gas station looked quite similar to the one I had walked into two years prior, shattered glass strewn everywhere over the ground. Only a single window pane was unbroken, covered in the typical long forgotten advertisements about car washes and the prices of the snacks inside the store part of the station.

We ignored the fuel pumps themselves, as we didn't have anything that needed the gasoline. That, and the fact that I surmised that the gasoline would have been one of the first things taken from that station.

"Be careful of walkers trapped behind doors" I gently reminded the children, as my own memories of getting a door bashed into my face stuck out like a sore thumb. Another part of my memories seemed to stick out, but for differing reasons. The adorable naivety Shawn had displayed back then about how it was wrong to take things from the abandoned store, the very same man pulling of a dropkick to save me, Kenny's concern and quick thinking... The very first time someone had actually called me by the nickname of 'Prim' in that new world.

...The warmth of nostalgia and happy memories faded very quickly, the cold reality of neither man being alive anymore causing those feelings to turn toward the bittersweet rather than blissful. I shook my head vigorously, forcing those feelings away for the time being until we were out of that station.

We waltzed into the store with confidence behind our actions, as it hadn't been the first (or last) time that we had walked into an unknown location. The store was still relatively neat looking; only having the occasional aisle being tipped over as well as a single long ceiling light swinging in the middle of the store, just barely holding itself to the wire it had been installed to. From what we could pick out from afar, almost every aisle had been picked clean of food and other assorted goods, only having one or two items that smelled quite off when we walked past them.

"Sam, search" I commanded the loyal companion trailing behind my feet, him immediately pressing his nose down and sniffing around in the store. He had to be careful at some instances to not cut his nose on something being left on the floor, but for the rest he was doing his job efficiently.

"There's some melted popsicles in the freezer here" Duck reported on what he had found, easily sliding open the door to the machine and reaching in to collect one of the watery plastic packets. We as a group had long since discovered that sugary water lasted a very long time, it still being good even if they had long since defrosted, the sugar acting as a natural preservative for the mixture. And considering how long it took for plastic to degrade, they never seemed to leak or have bugs in them. "Clem, do you want the strawberry one first or the lime?"

"Ew, who has lime ice-cream?" Clementine clearly thought that lime didn't belong in frozen goods, so Duck took that as her answer and handed her the strawberry one in his hands instead. "Not that I would refuse it if there was nothing else, but... Gross"

"I'd take lime over expired chocolate ice-cream any day, the cream mixtures never last" Duck didn't think the fruit was as big of a problem, gently opening a small hole into the one he was holding before drinking the mixture. Now that they were mentioning it, how picky we were had dropped quite a bit in the apocalypse. Even if we had something in our hands that we had absolutely hated before, if it was good we would eat it. "Oh! There's a water bottle hidden under these popsicles"

"Good, we should give that to Sam" I decided that the water was better given to him, as he couldn't handle the sugars from the popsicles as well as we could. After ensuring that both the bathroom door and back door were locked, I was reassured a bit that something wasn't about to come barrelling through the doors towards us. Right as I mentioned him, Sam came towards us with a can of beans in his mouth, clearly finding no walkers in the store. I was quite pleased with the can of goods, but I was disappointed to find that there was a big gash in the side of it... With mould being quite obvious in the side. "Nice finding Sam. It's just a bummer that it's unsafe to eat"

"No food, just some water and popsicles" Duck sighed, opening the water bottle he had found for the dog to drink from. We did still have a stash of food in our packs, but that would only last us for another day and a half, so the result was a bit less than stellar. "Should we pick the lock to the backroom?"

"Yeah, that's likely the place where they had more food stored" I decided that it was better to have a quick look rather than take our chances on finding another place with food stored away like in the logging camp. After we were hydrated enough from the popsicles and water, we headed over to the door with the sign on it stating that 'only staff' were allowed back there. I knocked twice on the door, but there was no sound of a person rustling around or growling from a walker. Sam was silent as well, so that boded well for us being able to get into the backroom without much trouble. "It sounds empty, let's get in there"

Duck bent down and carefully started to pick the lock, it taking a little longer than expected because the door was somewhat rusted in the meantime. After two minutes of poking around we heard the tell-tale sound of the lock clicking open for us, and we employed our second safety measure by opening the door but standing off to the sides in case a walker came stumbling out... But nothing came out.

"It's a bit dark in there, hold on" Clementine quickly got out her rechargeable flashlight, turning it on and shining a light into the dusty backroom. With the extra light helping us to not trip over things unnecessarily, we moved in. "Sam, search"

Our hopes were dashed a little in the fact of trying to find plenty of food in the backroom, as we could quickly tell that the separate pallets filled with food had been eaten by someone, only having about two packets of crisps and spaghetti in a can remaining from the several pallets. My unspoken question of who had eaten them all got answered when Clementine gently poked me in the shoulder, pointing off towards the left of the backroom... Where a dead body lay.

They were sat in the corner of the backroom, directly next to a shut garage door, but it was clear that we didn't have to worry about him getting back up and lumbering after us because of the mess that was his head. In his right hand was a pistol, obviously having been used to end his life, while his left hand seemed to tightly clench onto a note. While I took the note and pistol from his hands, Duck got to putting the supplies into his own backpack, leaving me a short moment to read the note and learn the sordid tale of the man.

As I had expected from what the room seemed to say, he had locked himself away in the backroom when the walkers started to wander the land, being too afraid to leave the store he had been working in when the world crumbled. It had taken a long time for his food to dwindle down to the amount it was when we had found it, and the fear from the first time he had locked himself away had completely taken over his heart; he was too afraid to leave to look for more food. The last scribbles of the note clearly had been done hastily, the ramblings of a man who was both fearful of the world, but also of dying. The very last sentence was begging the reader to not forget who he was - yet another fear of his - before the sentence and subsequently his life, ended.

...I stood there for a moment; trying to understand what on earth he was expecting some random stranger to do to remember him. He hadn't even listed his name or any kind of special thing he had ever done, so his note inadvertently made him the exact same as everyone else in that new world; a faceless statistic. The only thing he would be remembered for was being a coward, and the idea of remembering someone for something bad was much worse than simply being forgotten... Or at least, it was in my opinion.

"Does the note say anything important?" Clementine asked me, as she was still just a bit too short to peek over my shoulder to read the note. Sam also came along, finding nothing else beyond what Duck had taken, softly bonking his head against my leg.

"The typical things about how they love their family, so not really" I decided to lie about what was on the note, as telling them the truth of the note didn't seem like it would have any merit. This way, maybe the kids would remember him as a survivor who tried his best, rather than a recreant. "There are some pistol bullets still in here, another five for us"

"So he didn't wait until he was only left with one? Weird, do you think he was bitten?" Duck noticed the discrepancy, as most survivors had the rule for keeping the final one for themselves.

"...Maybe" I shrugged my shoulders, unwilling to really talk much more about it. The three of us weren't going to check over the body for bites anyway, so it didn't matter if it was true or not. "I don't think there's any use in checking the bathrooms, so we should be heading out"

"Gotcha Auntie Prim" Duck saluted me, it being somewhat serious and part joke. As we left the backroom and subsequently the store, Duck seemed to actually think of something to do with his nickname for me. "ActuUUually, now that I think about it, do you even have siblings?"

"No, I was an only child back at my home" I vaguely still remembered the look of the kitchen in my childhood home, as well as the distinct smells of breakfast. The distinct image of my mother facing away from my father and I, the way my dad was reading his newspaper with casual disinterest... The both of them intently listening to me talk animatedly about the games that I was playing with smiles on their faces. "My mother found out that she couldn't have kids after me, but she wasn't bothered by it. My father was worried that I was going to grow up spoiled, so he tried to employ this act of being a strict father... But he wasn't very good at it, he loved me too much"

There was a slight uncomfortable silence coming from the kids after I talked, as of course the discussion of parents was a bit raw for all three of us. They were certain that their parents were dead, but part of me wondered whether it was worse to know that they were dead or to know that they were alive but literally an alternate universe away. I let the kids walk ahead of me as I dawdled a little behind, turning around outside the store to look into the glass, wanting to see my vague reflection shown back to me.

I looked very different than what I remembered of myself when I was in my own world. My body was no longer the slender version of itself, instead having quite built leg muscles from walking everywhere, as well as my bicep muscles being well developed from swinging around my fire axe with great proficiency. When I peered closer to check my face... I was actually pretty much the same as I was before. I had lost a bit of flab around my cheeks due to the less food I ate, my face was a lot dirtier than I would have liked, but I was still me. My chestnut waves still spelled out loud and clear that I was my mother's daughter, and my petite nose and my hazel eyes still reminding people of my father.

Unfortunately that wasn't the only thing that was reflected back to me, as I could make out a walker trying to sneak up on me behind me in my reflection.

"Mum!" Clementine called out sharply to me in case I missed it, and I was grateful to hear that she was still looking out even if I had already noticed it.

"I got it" I calmly called back to her as I turned around, noticing that it was still a good couple of steps away from me. Moving my hand to retrieve my fire-axe, I took a single step backwards to get a better swing on my weapon...

...Only to feel that foot slip on something underneath it, causing me to tumble backwards.

"SHIT!" I called out in shock right before I crashed right into the glass panel, it not being able to take my sudden weight and shattering loudly. I struggled a little to regain my balance before the walker could get too close, but I didn't have to worry at all, as Clementine quickly handled the walker from a distance with a sharply aimed bullet to the head.

The walker now dealt with, both kids came running over to me as I pulled myself away from the shattered glass. Out of curiosity I looked down to see what I had managed to slip on, noticing a pipe that had been left on the ground in front of the glass pane. I huffed a little in annoyance, but didn't dwell on it too long about my mistake.

Sam began to whine softly underneath my left arm, which made me turn to reassure him. The moment I could spy my left arm could I see what he was whining about, the adrenaline momentarily making me completely unaware of any damages I might have sustained. On my left bicep was a massive gash, likely from that part of the arm landing on one of the jagged edges of glass after it had been broken. It had luckily not cut any sort of muscle in the arm, but the cut was clearly deep enough to show the inner workings of my arm.

"Shit" I cursed for the second time that day, it being many years since I had ever felt the urge to swear. Duck and Clementine had the common decency to not correct me on it at that point in time, as we had more pressing things to worry about. I quickly used my spare right hand to apply pressure and try to close up the wound, turning my head further back to inspect what I had landed on to cause it. The glass pane hadn’t been shattered before I had come along, so there wasn't a chance that I got a second hand infection from walker guts or something on the jagged edge, which was at least some good news. "Hand me a sturdy bandage, I need to stop this from bleeding further"

"Shouldn't we be using stitches?" Duck asked me, worry evident on his face as he dug into his backpack for the bandages that I had asked for. I held out my hand for the bandages when he found them, but he shook his head and moved to do it himself, as I had my other hand full with holding the wound closed while he worked.

"Not in the open, no" I didn't trust myself to be silent if we were going to be stitching up my arm, as I could only imagine what it was going to be like to do it without pain killers. The last batch of morphine we had was expired, and I didn't know what expired morphine would do to my body if it was already struggling to fix itself. "We need to go down one of the pathways near this gas station; we might find some sort of shelter to do that in"

Even with one layer of bandages on my arm the blood still trickled through onto the ground, it being bad enough that Sam even slightly moved backwards so that the droplets wouldn't land on his face. Duck quickly grabbed another bandage, but by this time both he and I were covered in far too much blood. It was going to be tough going wandering through the forest in that state, as we had discovered that walkers did respond to the smell of fresh blood.

"You're going to have to leave it at two bandages Duck, we need to get moving before walkers come here in reaction to the gunshot" I decided to wave away him trying to bandage me for the third time, despite the fact that the blood was still seeping through both layers. There was no way that I was going to bring danger to those kids, there absolutely wasn't. "Let's go, I need you both to be ready with your melee weapons"

"Already ready" Clementine pulled out her screwdriver, with Duck only needing a bit longer to wash the blood off his hands, pack everything away and pull out his own survival knife. I allowed the kids to decide which pathway we were going down, the one immediately across from the station on the right side of the road, and we were off.

Drip, drip, drip. The sound was not only worrying, it was also aggravating as it never seemed to end as we walked, my body dropping a bread crumb path for walkers to follow if they so pleased. Sam trotted on in front of me, but the notion of tripping over him was nowhere near going to be a reality as I was steadily getting a bit slower than him. After a while it became apparent that I was no longer speed walking like the other three, them often having to slow down to let me catch up. It was when I started feeling light-headed that I really started to get worried, and that feeling of worry only grew when my focus started to slip... And my eyesight seemed to diminish in its ability.

"...I'm going to need you two to tell me if there are walkers soon" I told the kids the bad news, as squinting in the distance only produced a very blurry image in return. In fact, I could only barely make out their worried looks at me, the horror at realising that perhaps... I was going to have to be left behind. "If there are too many walkers, you guys might have to-

"No! Don't talk like that!" Clementine stopped me before I could finish my sentence, her stubbornly clinging to the hope that we would be able to make it to a shelter before I fainted. "If you feel bad, then Duck can carry you"

"You and I both know that Duck isn't strong enough yet to carry me for a long time" I quickly found the problem in their equation, but it seemed as if Clementine wasn't the only one who was going to refuse to leave me behind.

"Then we'll both carry you!" Duck supplemented his own idea of how to solve that problem, but it was just as doomed to failure as the first one was.

"Who's going to take care of the walkers then?" I asked them, nearly tripping over a stray root, just barely managing to stop myself from face planting into the dirt. Clementine made sure to give me some support so that I was ready to go again, but my movements were just as slow as before.

"Sam will!"

I only sighed in response to their strange logic, knowing that all three of those options weren't going to work out well. The plan seemed doomed to failure... And it seemed like I had run out of the luck that Kenny had claimed that I had a long time ago. The god of luck watching over me had decided to change their gaze to look at someone else, if they even existed in the first place.

The moment Sam growled at something approaching us was when I had to stop. Even if the kids found a pathway for me to take in between the approaching enemies (one that didn't have more roots that could trip me up), I wasn't capable of running.

"...Three walkers on the left, two on the right" Duck translated what was going on for me, as I could only vaguely make out some of the movements of the dead. I could shortly afterwards hear him reloading his rifle, but I fumbled around with my hand until I could stop him from using the gun.

"It's just going to attract more of them. I won't be able to move fast enough to outpace the new walkers that will come out after the sound of the gunshot" I told them both the sad reality of the situation, but if the movement made by both kids was anything to go by, they were still trying to reject that new reality. I suppose it was a bit of me rubbing off on them, as after all, I had literally wished upon a comet to come to this new reality to save people... But it was time to accept that I wasn't invincible. The comet purely answered the wish about the characters being alive and giving me the _chance_ to give them happy endings, it didn't make them immortal and it certainly didn't hold my hand as I tried to take that chance in my hands. This time, I had to at least do what was right for those two. "If it helps, you can think of it in a nicer way. I'm going to be reunited with Kenny, Katjaa and the others... I hope"

"I don't care about Kenny! Or Shawn, or Mark, or... Or anyone!" Clementine angrily rebuked my attempt to make them feel better, as of course the thought of me joining the dead from the first season was not reassuring in the slightest. How silly of me, I should have known better about that. After all, Kenny reassuring the player that he's going to be joining Katjaa and Duck after he passes away... Does not help in the slightest. "I don't care if they're waiting for you, I need you! We need you!"

"We're not leaving you behind! End of story!" Duck was in agreement with Clementine, the both of them breaking out their guns to defend me until their last breaths. As much as I wanted to force them to live on without me, the truth of it was that I was too weak to actually make them do anything that they didn't want to.

...And it seemed as if they wouldn't have to, as soon I heard the sound of something being fired at the walkers encroaching on us. It sounded weird, like a strange bow... A crossbow perhaps?

"I got the two on the left here" Someone new joined in, talking to someone else next to them. I couldn't make out who they were; my vision was too blurry for that, but the voice... No, surely it couldn't be.

Two people split up from across from us, one of them firing his crossbow twice more at the two coming on our left side, while his other friend took care of the two that were coming from the right. Once they were done with the immediate walkers, they seemed to have a small discussion with one another about how it wasn't safe to remain out in the open considering the kids were yelling quite a bit at one point, with the both of them soon approaching our group of four. Even through the blurry vision that I had, I still could make out the distinct brown shirt and green jacket of the two men walking towards me.

Two years. Two long years of searching for those people... And yet, they fall right into my lap the moment I needed help. Or, I suppose it might have been more accurate to say that _I_ landed in _their_ laps instead.

"Are you guys okay? We heard all the yelling from our cabin, so we decided to come check out what was going on" Luke's very clear country accent shone through despite my hazy listening, and I had to stop myself from inadvertently smiling at realising that it well and truly was him. The problem was that Luke in this new reality was just as paranoid as he was in the game, freezing a bit once he saw the blood still dripping down my left arm. "Oh, shit..."

"Language" Duck told him off for swearing, before shortly realising that it probably was not best to be correcting our saviours. "Wait, never mind, that's not the important part. She wasn't bitten, she fell through a glass window pane and cut her arm"

"...Hmm, we did hear something that sounded like glass breaking from the cabin Luke" Pete did seem to be much smarter than his in game counterpart, using logic far beyond the simple processes that the game would allow him. Luke obviously seemed to be less confident about it however.

"But Nick... He's not going to like-

"Please!" Clementine pleaded with the both of them, even going so far as to grab onto a hand from both men to insist... Or at least, that's what I _think_ she was doing. It was still hard to tell with all the blobs of colour combining with each other. "Mum is the only person we have left! Please, please believe us!"

"She's your mother?!" Luke seemed more surprised for the term that Clementine was referring to me by, but after momentarily stumbling over that obstacle the two of them considered it a bit more. From what their blobs of colour seemed to say, they looked at each other, weighing up what they were supposed to do. After a short bit of deliberation, Pete seemed to find it enough reason to at least check my wound, coming closer towards me.

"I'm going to take these bandages off, just to take a look" Pete told me what he was doing before he actually moved anything, waiting for my head to give a weak nod before he started to gingerly unwrap the bandages. When both layers came off both men hissed in a way that signified that they thought the wound was much worse looking than they had expected, before I could feel Pete poking around the skin there. The wait was agonising, not only because I felt like I was going to keel over right then and there, but because I was hoping to the nine heavens that he could tell the difference between a bite and a gash. "...Yeah, this is obviously not a bite"

"Really?" Luke asked him, coming forward now that he essentially had proof from his friend that I wasn't suddenly going to turn on them.

"Unless you know of a lurker that has one extremely long tooth, then really, she's not bitten" Pete then started to carefully roll up my sleeve on that arm, using the fabric to further staunch the blood flow in place of putting the long since soaked bandages back on.

"So... She's all good?" Luke finally came forward enough so that his colour of blob was more identifiable, meaning that he likely was standing directly in front of my face. Duck grabbed the bandages from the ground, as while they weren't exactly dry anymore, they still would do to apply pressure on the wound. He was practically a speed demon, wrapping the bandages back over my wound, but likely still getting blood on his hands again.

"She's most definitely _not_ going to be all good if we stand here the whole day talking about this!" Pete essentially told Luke off for still being hesitant, his point being further emphasised when I started to wobble on the spot from the blood loss. "We need to get her back to the cabin so that Carlos can fix her up!"

"Oh, right!" Luke finally seemed to get his act together, saving me the trouble of walking further by picking me up, hoisting my legs around his waist and moving my arms over his shoulders. It was like a strange way of piggybacking someone (except, you know, it was on the front), but it was comfortable enough for both him and myself that he started to charge off in some vague direction with me safely in his arms. Even though my strength was failing me, I tried my best to hold tight onto the fabric of his shirt, but failing each time to hold my grip for very long. "You're alright, I got ya"

With those reassuring words being said directly into my ear, it acting like a lullaby, allowing me to relax into a sense of unconsciousness. Like that, my eyes closed like shutter doors closing on a shop, my mind slipping away.


	6. Home is Where the Heart is

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My brother: Destiny, you can't just pretend the actual ending of the games didn't happen and make your own new canon ending to the story  
> Me: That's where you're wrong kiddo

Truthfully, the following couple of hours were extremely hazy. It reminded me of the time I had gone to the hospital, flittering in and out of consciousness after I had been given the sedative. In my blood starved state I occasionally would come to, register some vague talking and blobs in my field of vision, before inevitably falling back under the spell of sleep.

Only one interaction seemed to stick out, the beginning of which started with a dull pinprick in my chest. Whatever that pinprick was, it seemed to give my body some slight more clarity, as slowly the blobs of colour became sharper in my field of vision. It still was near impossible for me to focus on multiple things at once - kind of like I was staring down a telescope to specifically look only at one thing - but I could make out faces around me.

"Ah, there we go, she looks more aware" Someone spoke up, their thick Spanish accent making me tilt my head in the direction of where his voice came from. Unsurprisingly, I could spot Carlos there, all in his glory. He put away some kind of injection needle (likely the thing he injected me with), before moving his hands back to my uninjured arm on my right hand side.

"Muh?" I slurred a confused response to their talking, looking around at the other faces that stared down at me. I could slowly make out the differing faces around them, and it only served to make my heart swell. Luke, Duck, Pete, Clementine and Alvin all hovered over me anxiously, obviously listening to every instruction that Carlos gave them. Nick and Rebecca remained off to the side, clearly attempting to hold back a whimpering Sam (actually, it was mainly Nick doing that, Rebecca was too pregnant to successfully bend over to help), as no doubt it was not hygienic to allow a dog near an open wound. But despite the lingering idea in the back of my head that I was bleeding out in their cabin, I was just happy to see them all. "...Did I die and go to heaven or something?"

"Mum, what's your blood type?" Clementine ignored my possible joke, instead finding it far more important to figure out what kind of blood transfusion would be safe to give me. After all, if I had a blood type that couldn't receive many types of blood, it could have dire ramifications to give me whatever one they got their hands on. Unfortunately for her, while I was in a state to make jokes, recalling my type seemed to be far harder than expected.

"Don't be silly Clem, you know Ben's blood type is A positive" I rambled on about the wrong person’s blood type, the subsequent upset looking faces from Clementine and Duck somewhat passing me by. In my delirious state, I couldn't remember that the person I had mentioned was no longer there, so I just mutely stared up at the roof after spouting that bit of information.

"...Who's Ben?" I could hear Luke ask, as of course he couldn't know the reason for why the kids were looking upset. Him asking that at least served to make Duck shake off the momentary somber attitude clouding his mind, getting back to the proper task at hand.

"No, we need yourblood type" Duck reminded me, but it still seemed to fly over my head.

"...Mr. Parker's blood type is O negative. Be careful, he can't have anything else than O negative" I mumbled the next blood type that immediately sprung up in my mind, and it was finally then that Carlos seemed to lose his patience.

" _Your_ blood type!" Carlos shouted at me, which seemed to finally shock my delirious brain into thinking about the correct type.

"Oh" I softly murmured, realising the mistake I had been making. I could feel my forehead and nose scrunch up a little as I pored over older memories in my mind, really struggling hard to find the correct memory that would tell me what I was. The others completely fell silent, waiting to hear what I was going to say. "...I can't remember"

Carlos sighed deeply, running into a metaphorical wall by that point in terms of getting anything useful out of me. Luckily, he was still a qualified doctor, which meant that he still knew of a backup plan even if my blood type was unknown.

"Nick, come here" Carlos waved over the younger adult, clearly thinking it was important for him to be present. With Nick and Alvin doing a bit of an odd dance - no doubt to ensure that someone was still holding Sam back - Nick soon approached close enough to be within arm’s reach of me... And I could certainly see his face. "We're going to be doing a live transfusion between you and her, roll up your sleeve"

"Hey wait a moment, we still don't know what her blood type is" Pete sounded uncertain with his nephew providing blood to me, possibly even worrying that it would not just harm me but Nick as well. "Besides, why would you specifically need Nick for that?"

"He's the only one in our group who's an O negative, he can give blood to any other blood type" Carlos explained quickly as to why it was perfectly fine for Nick to be giving his blood to me, but I wasn't looking at either man who were discussing the topic. I was paying attention to Nick, who was carefully rolling down his sleeves so that he wasn't cutting off his own blood supply, and... Good lord, his arm muscles were impressive. The game didn't do people's muscles that much justice, and it certainly seemed that it had slipped by mentioning just how thick Nick's forearms were. Nick must have noticed that I was staring at his arms, as at one point he seemed to look at me with a mixture of confusion and suspicion, which allowed me to strike in a silly way towards him.

"You're cute" I giggled, stupidly reaching up with my injured arm to gently tap a finger against his nose. After Pete finally grabbed my arm and brought it back down to my side, Nick seemed to realise what I had said to him, his face changing to embarrassment and even more confusion than it was before.

"I, uh... What?" Nick asked me, clearly unsure what he was supposed to make of what I had said and done.

"Ignore her, she's probably delirious" Carlos disregarded what I had said, effectively trying to make Nick focus on what he was supposed to be doing, but if anything the remark served to make some kind of silly part of my mind to keep rambling about things that I wasn't supposed to be mentioning.

"A drunk man's rambling is a sober man's thoughts, eh Luke?" I giggled further, turning my head a little bit to look at the equally confused face of Luke, as of course he didn't know what I was rambling on about. It was nowhere near the moment that line was mentioned in the timeline, combined with the fact that I wasn't drunk, let alone the fact that it wasn't him who had said the line in the game. Out of all of items on the list however, my brain only seemed to latch onto the final one. "Ah wait, Mike says that"

Even Clementine and Duck didn't know who Mike was supposed to be, as none of the people from the first season group even had a nickname close to that name. But at the very least they had the common sense to assume that it was someone that we hadn't met yet, so they remained quiet and pretended that he was someone like Ben; just a forgotten person from the first group.

"Who... Who's Mike?" Luke asked me in bewilderment, but luckily Carlos cut off that train of thought before I could blurt anything else out that wouldn't make sense.

"I said; ignore her, she's likely delirious" Carlos gave me the perfect excuse to my strange rambling, which my future-self appreciated greatly. With whatever Carlos had given me beginning to wear off, my eyelids started to droop and drift back off towards the land of darkness. "Now let's focus, we have work to do"

With what seemed to be an eye-blink for me, but it was likely hours for the others, I woke up again. Carlos had certainly worked magic on me, because by that point I didn't seem to need the injection to be fully conscious. It was like waking up from a weird lucid dream, the majority of the day being forgotten except for a scarce few things that did stick in my mind, casually waking up like nothing had happened.

It was only when I started to move around that there were things that spelled out what happened to me. For starters, I had been left on a hard surface, and searching around with my hands and eyes told me that I had been placed down on a very long dining table in their kitchen. Secondly, my arm hurt like hell, as even moving my bicep slightly gave me the sensation of a thin wire like substance being used to stitch it up. My blood obviously must have gotten everywhere on the table, as I had also been stripped of my clothing, for the time being left covered with a long blanket and not much else.

When I sat up I could notice that it was dark outside, cluing me in that I had been sleeping for hours since we had been found by Pete and Luke. Sitting in chairs on my left side were Clementine and Duck, both of their heads either bowed down or resting against the table, clearly spelling out that they had fallen asleep at my side. Clementine had even fallen asleep with her hands safely tucked around my own, something which made me gently squeeze her small hands as best as I could with my injured arm.

Sam had also fallen asleep, him crawling onto the table at one point to drape his snout over one of my ankles as he snored softly. When I moved to carefully bring my ankle out from underneath that snout, the movement seemed to rouse him ever so gently, his ears and eyes perking up instantly.

"Ruff!" Sam could clearly tell that I hadn't changed into a walker in the meantime, eagerly wriggling across the table until his face was close enough to mine to lick me heartily across the face. I laughed softly as he accidentally knocked my blanket away from me, both his excited whining and barking serving to wake up the kids in their chairs.

"Mum!" Clementine cried out once she had woken up enough to register me up, throwing herself onto me just like Sam had done, throwing her arms around my shoulders to hug me. I couldn't use my left arm to stabilise myself, but luckily my right arm still had enough strength to stop myself from toppling over. "I thought... I thought we had lost you too!"

She cried into the nape of my neck, clearly overwhelmed by how happy she was to see me alive. And of course, the mention of 'too' in her sentence didn't pass me by, which cause me to slowly manoeuvre my left arm up so that I could gently pat her head.

"I'm sorry I scared you guys like that" I gently spoke to them, as I could understand too well about why they wouldn't want to lose another person precious to them. "And I'm also sorry that I was talking about leaving me behind in the woods"

"We're a team, and that means leaving nobody behind" Duck was confident in his answer about still believing that their decision was the right one, which did give a bit of a hint as to why they had been so casual to fall asleep in the same room as me without having someone keeping watch. After all, if they were willing to potentially get themselves killed defending me, then the thought of me passing away due to blood loss and reanimating as a walker would be just as horrific. To them, falling asleep and never waking up again (likely due to me going after them if I had turned) was far better than being awake and seeing me turn into the monsters they had learned to fear this entire time.

...Now that I was thinking about it, would I even reanimate as a walker?

"No, you idiot! You need to use cold water, not warm!" The sound of Rebecca angrily correcting someone in the room adjoined to the kitchen interrupted the ultimately useless pondering about whether I could become one of the walking dead, which told me that the cabin group were likely all still awake by that point in time.

"Well, it might actually be a good time to meet the people who saved me" I decided that I at least wanted to thank the people who had stitched me up, saving me the trouble of doing it myself and for the simple fact that they got me out of a major bind. As I shifted myself carefully off the table, the blanket fully came off me, showing all my body in its nude glory. And as much as I was perfectly fine to show my body to people, something told me that the cabin group was likely going to be much less appreciative of me walking around with no clothing on than the first season group had been two years prior. "Whoops. Clementine, could you help me wrap the blanket around myself in such a way that it stays up by itself?"

"Sure" As Clementine went to retrieve the cloth from the floor, I had a moment to look down at my injuries. My arm was neatly bandaged, hiding most of the damage underneath its clean white surface, but something that did stand out on my skin was the fact that I still could see some vague remnants of the very old bullet graze that I had been given by Larry. Somehow, I always got myself hurt on either my left side, or someone bashed me in the head. "Here, I'll do it like my mum taught me how to do a towel"

It took me a couple of seconds to realise that she was referring to her actual mother and not me, but I wasn't bothered by the revelation once I realised the difference. After all, we never really had a need for knowing such mundane things in that new world.

"There, now the guys might not act weirdly around you" Clementine softly muttered that under her breath, telling me that I must have missed something while I was out of it. My questioning look did end up making her retell the story for me, but not without her rolling her eyes dramatically first. "When they were going to take your clothing off to wash them, they all got really weird. They kept trying to pass off the task to someone else, probably cause they thought it was going to be weird or rude if they saw you naked. Even the doctor guy didn't want to do it"

"It got so bad that they even asked the pregnant lady to doOo it, but she then got mad at them and reminded them that she can't do much physical stuff in her current condition" Duck seemed to find the story a little funnier than Clementine did, as he was wearing a grin on his face while Clementine crossed her arms to show her displeasure. "In the end, Clem got mad and told them all to 'bugger off', so we did it instead"

"Technically, bugger is a swear word back in Britain, but I get it" I laughed softly, realising that Clementine had inadvertently used a swear word when she made them leave the room. It was a funny enough story to make me relax a little more to meet them, as it dispelled some of my fears of them all being horrid people compared to the game. "Come on, let's go see them"

I gently opened the door to the living room of the cabin, noticing quite quickly that there had been some candles lit for people to see around the wooden cabin. Not only candles; the fireplace had also been lit in an effort to boil a pot of water, which was the reason for why Rebecca seemed to be yelling at Nick, the latter of which was attempting to wash the clothing that had come off my body.

"What does it matter what kind of water I use?!" Nick angrily rebuffed Rebecca's earlier remark, obviously thinking that the warmer the water, the better it did in helping to clean clothing. While that logic certainly did make sense in some contexts, this was certainly not one of them, something that Rebecca was more than happy to remark on further. "I'm trying to wash her clothes, not murder the president!"

"Because hot water makes blood set into the clothing! Unless you think she wants to walk around looking like she's on her period twenty-four-seven, giving her back clothing that is covered in blood is a horrific idea!" Rebecca kept going at it, something that caused her husband to just softly sigh and proceed to stay out of the argument. "Have you ever even experienced doing a girl's washing in the past? We know more about that sort of subject as it is!"

It seemed as if Carlos, Luke and Pete were thinking along the same lines as Alvin, as each of them were either sighing, laughing, or a combination of both in terms of how much of a deal they were making out of the simple discussion of how to wash clothing. The only person missing from their group was Sarah, Carlos' daughter, but that was likely because she was asleep upstairs... If they kept it down, then maybe she would remain so.

"To be fair, she's completely right. My mother said a similar thing about how cold water works better to handle bloody clothing" I decided that was the best time to say something, as it didn't seem like they had heard me walk into the living room. My decision to talk then managed to derail the argument that the two more hot-headed members of the cabin group were having, instead making their attention turn to me. "Hello by the way, I heard from my two kids that you guys saved my life"

"Jesus, I was certain you'd still be knocked out for another day or two" Alvin seemed surprised to see me up and about so soon after they had been operating on me, which did seem like it was fair. My own surprise two years prior at how quickly Ben was up was similar to that shock that he was experiencing.

"I've been wrong in my estimations before" Carlos apparently had been the one to guess that I wasn't going to be awake before then, him gently pushing off the couch to stand up. I briefly wondered whether he was attempting to head to the kitchen behind me, but he stopped directly in front of me, gently pressing the inside of his wrist to my forehead to feel my temperature. "How do you feel?"

"Other than my arm hurting, I actually feel alright" I was pleased to report to him that I wasn't feeling queasy or anything, which showed quite well how his medical expertise was effective. Another reason for my relatively clean bill of health no doubt had to come down to the fact I had received the blood transfusion, my eyes instinctively seeking out Nick. On the inside of one of his wrists was a white cotton ball taped down with medical tape, spelling out that he had indeed given me some of his blood, which I was grateful for. "Thanks for the blood by the way; I vaguely remember that your name was Nick?"

"Do you remember that before or after you called him cute?" Pete simultaneously teased Nick as well as myself, grinning in a silly manner at the both of us. Nick clearly wasn't that impressed by the remark, as he muttered under his breath in response to the remark made by his uncle.

"...Shut up Uncle Pete" Nick mumbled somewhat under his breath, which just made me want to tease him a little myself as well.

"Well, to be fair; he _is_ cute" I very casually displayed that I was a very affectionate person from the get-go, as it was going to be something that I brought out anyway as a natural part of my personality. I certainly enjoyed the way Nick seemed to slightly choke on air out of surprise from hearing it come out again, but I didn't enjoy Clementine's response coming afterwards. "Ow! Clem, don't punch my injured arm!"

"Anyway, that part isn't important" Luke tried to shuffle the conversation away from that range of topic, shifting himself off the couch and gesturing for me to take a seat where he had just been sitting. "Here, come sit there and we'll actually get you four some food"

Luke even momentarily looked like he was going to gently place his hands on the small of my back to direct me there, when he seemed to remember that I was wearing nothing more than a blanket, hurriedly pulling away his hand as though some god was going to strike him down if he even remotely touched a semi-naked woman. I raised an eyebrow in a teasing manner to his sudden skittishness, and he seemed like he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do in response to that, laughing a little awkwardly while shrugging his shoulders.

"Ahaha... I... I'm going to get some food" Luke then decided to dash away into the kitchen, wanting to avoid the strange situation that he had inadvertently created. Duck laughed because of how humorous he found it, but Clementine rolled her eyes again while muttering under her breath about how the guys were 'still being stupid'.

I briefly wondered why Clementine was being so abrasive with me being romantically open with people (and seemingly vice versa as well), as I had never noticed moments in the past where she had reacted the same. If anything, she was very open for people kissing me two years prior with people such as Kenny and Lilly... So what had changed?

"Considering the fact that you wouldn't have heard names that well when you were first brought in, we might as well do all of the introductions again" Carlos decided to initiate the inevitable exchanging of names that was common between strangers, and I did my best to appear like I didn't know their names from the game. "I'm Carlos, the doctor here, and I'm the one who did most of the work on patching you up"

"I can't remember if you heard my name when Luke and I met you, but I'm Pete" Pete introduced himself immediately after Carlos did, situating himself in a armchair not too far away on my left side. It was clear that neither of the kids were keen on shuffling off the couch to make room for anyone else, so everyone else had to stand (or sit in front of me, as Sam was doing). "That grumpy guy over there is my nephew, Nick"

"...Hey" Nick gave the quietest greeting, obviously not completely sure what he was supposed to make of me. That, and he looked a bit disgruntled with his Uncle's description of him.

"I'm Alvin, and this is my wife Rebecca. The socially awkward one that disappeared into the kitchen was Luke" Alvin proceeded to sweep up the majority of the last introductions, as Carlos was likely not going to immediately introduce us to his daughter until he trusted us more. Rebecca found that she didn't need to do much more than nod her head when I glanced in her direction, and I returned her nod with one of my own.

"I am not socially awkward!" Luke cried out in indignation as he came back into the dining room, obviously thinking that people were exaggerating over his character. Alvin just laughed, spelling out that it was likely meant as a joke anyway, with Luke just softly huffing a lock of hair out of his eyes before deciding that it wasn't big enough to dispel the possible image of a socially awkward nerd in my mind. "Here, I don't know if you guys like porridge, but it's good food. It also doesn't have any sugar in it, so it should be fine for your dog"

"Oh, thank you" I attempted to take two bowls off him so that one could go to Sam, but the moment I attempted to lift my left arm I got a heavy dose of pain shooting through my nerves, my body reminding me that I shouldn't do too much with it. "Ah, Duck, could you feed Sam today?"

"You got it" Duck gently reached out his own left hand to carefully take one of the bowls that Luke was balancing on his forearms (how he did that without any hospitality training astounded me), before going through the usual motions of getting Sam to sit before getting his food. "Sam, sit!"

The thunking noise of Sam's rear hitting the wood was obvious, him patiently waiting for the food to be given to him afterwards; which Duck happily gave to him.

"Our dog's name is Sam, he's a very good boy" I included our dog into the introductions, as I knew that Luke was at least a dog person from what the game seemed to suggest. Just like I expected, Luke seemed to smile quite fondly down at Sam once I introduced him. Not just him, as the indications of Nick, Pete and Alvin smiling down at Sam as well told me that they were dog people as well. "My two kids are Clementine and Kenny Junior here, but they typically go by the nicknames of Clem and Duck"

"You're certainly a very young mother" Rebecca seemed sympathetic to my possible plight of being a mother in the apocalypse, especially considering my younger than average age.

"Oh, they're not blood related; I've just adopted them after the dead started to walk" I finally put that rumour to bed, as I definitely did not have a child at the age of ten and twelve respectively. Clementine rolled her eyes for the third time that night, thinking that it should be obvious that I wasn't their mother because of the fact that they looked nothing like me. It was like being mistaken for being her big sister all over again, where you truly thought that the answer should have been obvious from a kilometre away. "And my name is Primrose, more commonly known as Prim... But it's been years since I've been called that to be honest. It's generally 'Mum' or 'Auntie Prim' nowadays"

"As long as you don't mind that I decide to call you Prim rather than the latter two, I think it would be a bit scandalous if I were to call you mummy" Pete joked, but luckily that type of joke seemed to completely fly over Clementine and Duck's heads. I could only assume that he was referring to the fact it was the only female equivalent of calling someone 'daddy', which had its meaning slowly changed over time. And if the disapproving looks from Nick and Carlos were anything to go by, it seemed as if I wasn't the only one to think along those lines.

" _Anyway_ " Carlos pointedly directed that sort of tone towards Pete, implying that he didn't think it was appropriate to flirt with someone who had literally just woken up from being in a blood deprived state, clearing his throat for good measure when Pete looked like he was going to open his mouth and say something else. Whether he was going to apologise or keep going, Carlos was very clear; he didn't want to hear it. "You all are welcome to stay as long as you need to recover"

"Thank you very much, I appreciate that greatly" I already liked the fact that we were invited to stay, as honestly, I was hoping to fish for that sort of arrangement as it was. But if it was already offered to us, then that just meant that I had to truly look after them. "...But, I don't just want to be a freeloader"

"You can head out with Pete and Nick to check out our fish traps tomorrow morning" Alvin already had an idea of something that wouldn't strain my arm, but also get me out an about to still get normal movement and daylight on my skin. And if the universe was going to be as it was two years prior... Then there was a good chance that excursion was going to be more than just a typical check.

"Sounds like a plan" I agreed to it, already mentally preparing for whatever the universe was going to throw at me this time.


	7. Love is the Best Medicine

As my clothing still wasn't dry by the time that I went to sleep, I was loaned some clothing from the cabin group to sleep in. After concluding that it likely was some of the men's clothing (the vague smells of aftershave in the nape gave that away), we were given a room to sleep in on the top floor of the cabin. The four of us who had been travelling together for so long crammed ourselves in the king single bed (with me in the middle, so that I wouldn't run the risk of rolling out of the bed and opening my stitches), and slept the few hours of the night away.

We had purposefully left the curtains open so that the sunlight would wake us up the following morning, and it did so exactly as it always had done in the past. Clementine and Duck seemed to be more tired than normal, likely from them staying at my side for a long time after I had been brought into the cabin, so when I woke up they were grumbling at the sunlight but refusing to get up just yet. Sam even lifted his head in curiosity when I started to carefully clamber out of the bed, but I just gently pat him until he put his head back down and began to sleep again. They deserved some extra sleep before we moved around during the day.

I snuck my way out of the bedroom we had been situated in, being surprised to notice that I couldn't spy anyone else being up. It seemed as if the constant waking and moving at the break of dawn hadn't quite been drilled into the cabin group, so it left me with a moment of silence and privacy for a short while.

In the quiet of the morning, the cabin actually looked very peaceful. The soft streams of the sunlight coming through the gaps in the curtains painted the wooden building in a soft glow, and the gentle tones of brown, green and beige seemed to act as natural relaxing stimulants to my brain. Even the left behind pictures of various water fowl and animals that resided in the woods served to make the entire building feel like it was exactly like it had been left before the world ended; as though I was doing nothing more than spending a weekend away on a fishing trip.

...That feeling of tranquillity seemed to leave the moment I thought about it for too long, because my brain naturally made a link to the one other time when I had felt like things were normal; when I was leaving Savannah with both of my kids in tow with Lilly and Kenny. Even after those two years had passed, the sharp spike of emotional pain that came whenever I remembered the people from the first season always seemed to be lurking just below the surface... Just waiting to come along and sour whatever happiness I had found at the time. The only times that I didn't feel it was when I completely switched my brain over to an automatic sort of function, the momentary forgetfulness acting as a very thin barrier in those times.

My body felt heavy as I carefully descended the stairs in the cabin, my right hand monotonously acting as my safety by holding onto the railing. Part of my brain had hoped that finding the cabin group would end up helping smooth over that harsh sting of loss, but it was akin to putting a plaster on a bullet wound; it scarcely helped.

The sight of the fireplace roaring away distracted my mind, telling me that my first guess of being the first one up was incorrect unless they were incredibly silly with their fire safety. I turned my head to look around the living room, but there wasn't a single person perched in an armchair or on the couch, so they were either in the kitchen or outside doing work. The combination of being hungry and curious caused me to guess that it was someone being in the kitchen, so I headed there first.

The moment I swung open the door to the kitchen did I realise that I was correct, as I could spot Carlos leaning against one of the kitchen counters, idly sipping some beverage from a cup. He noticed me just as quickly as I did him, him giving a very short introductory greeting by raising his mug slightly before lowering it again.

"Good morning" I greeted him civilly, and he mumbled a tired response that was similar to what I had said to him. From the ever present sight of dark circles underneath his eyes, it seemed to be that he did not have that restful of a night, which did peak my curiosity. I had always noticed the tired looking features in the static version of him from the game (lord knows the second season wasn't praised for their facial expressions on side characters), but part of me wondered what the reason actually was. "Couldn't sleep?"

"Mmm" He hummed a deep note that was affirmative in note, taking a long sip from the liquid in his cup. I presumed it to be coffee from what I could smell coming from it, and it certainly seemed to be strong due to the lack of a milky appearance. "I wouldn't worry about it, it's normal for me. I stay awake for several days before I crash, so it makes sense for me to be keeping watch most nights anyway"

"Oh, you're an insomniac?" I was surprised to learn that there actually was a good reason behind his constantly grizzled look, and he nodded his head drowsily in another casual answer. He held out the cup of coffee towards me in a way that suggested that he was asking me if I wanted to have some myself, but I gently waved it away. "Oh, no thank you, my parents drilled in tea with me instead"

"Tea... Yes, I do hear some British in your accent" Carlos was one of the few to immediately recognise the remnants of my mother tongue in my speech, and I was more than pleased that I hadn't completely lost in in the meantime. "You're a long way from home"

"Aren't we all" I left my answer to his unspoken question as vague as I could, as he had no clue how far I truly was away from my own world. Whether you considered an alternate dimension further away than being an entire ocean away, it certainly was far. He once again seemed to hum in agreement, which ultimately told me that he didn't care all that much on why I had made my way to the United States of America. "Do you need help with making breakfast? I want to feel like I'm helping somehow"

"We generally already prepare our food the moment we find or catch it, so there's not much to be done" Carlos turned down my help in a roundabout way, further emphasised by the fact he glanced down at my left arm with barely veiled concern. "...Besides, you should be letting your arm recover. It looked quite bad when I was working on it yesterday"

"Oh... Well, I'm not really used to sitting around and letting others do things for me" I laughed in a somewhat self-deprecating manner, as it reminded me of what I had always been told by... My old group. "I've been told off by my old group for charging off and doing things on my own as well, it's kind of silly that I still need to hear that message"

"What happened to them?" Carlos asked me, as it had been quite obvious that I couldn't have been talking about just the three group members that I had then. My face falling seemed to spell out to him what had happened, the typical answer to anyone who was asked what happened to people that were no longer around them in that new world. "Oh... No, never mind, you don't have to tell me"

"It's... It's been two years, but it's somehow still fresh every time I remember them" I struggled to find the words to explain how it felt, but when I did find them it seemed impossible to keep them inside me without talking about them. Carlos patiently listened to me, the look in his eyes spelling out that he knew the feeling of losing someone precious to him. "Because they're no longer here, I feel like I have to do so much to protect the kids I still have with me"

Carlos couldn't seem to find the words to counter that, as he knew those feelings too well himself. A combination of wanting to protect your child from the world but the inevitable realisation that we couldn't keep them safe forever ourselves... They were uncomfortable themes to deal with in a normal world as it was, let alone in one where you could stumble onto a flesh eating monster.

Rather than give me any sort of useless platitude, he gently moved himself forward again until he could press the inside of his wrist against my forehead, feeling for my temperature again. When he seemed to feel something that concerned himself somewhat, he gently moved the hair on my forehead out of the way until he could press his own against mine. It felt... Incredibly intimate, something that he also seemingly noticed as his eyes soon moved to look away from mine and down toward the ground instead. We even were standing close enough to each other that all I had to do was tilt my head slightly upward to touch his, showing that he was just that bit taller than I.

"...You have a bit of a fever" He seemed to understand what he was feeling eventually, soon taking a bit of a step away from me so that he could give me my privacy back. Even though we still were only strangers to one another, he seemed to want to take good care of me, fishing in one of his pockets for a pill bottle before handing me one of the pills from inside it. "Here, this should help bring it down a bit. Please take care of yourself, those kids need you more than you think"

It was such a tender moment, him ever so gently handing the tiny pill into one of my hands, before he made sure to curl my fingers around it protectively. When I looked back up into his eyes there seemed to be a sense of vulnerability in them, as though he was looking at something that he had experienced in the past all over again. Some other woman in his life who seemed to throw themselves into danger (whether it be metaphorical or literal) for their children... Which could possibly mean that he was thinking of Sarah's mother at that moment in time, wanting to make sure that I wasn't going to do the same thing.

"I'll do my best" I promised him the best that I could, which seemed to relieve him to no end. Even if he hadn't plead with his eyes, I knew quite well that I would have never been able to refuse a request from him. His kindness toward me just cemented the fact in my mind that I was going to go the extra mile for him and the others in the cabin, which made me think of how I was going to reward him for his golden heart. Like it had happened for the first group, these seven cabin group members were likely going to figure out about my particular set of knowledge... So I started to lay the foundation for them figuring it out someday. "By the way Carlos, have you ever heard of a blue comet?"

"A blue comet?" He seemed confused on why I was asking him that out of the blue (no pun intended), and he seemed to glance slightly upwards to the room above us where Sarah would be sleeping out of their group. "Well, one of Sarah's favourite bed time songs is based on the old nursery rhyme about the blue comet. It grants wishes or something"

When he looked back down from trying to remember the nursery rhyme, he could see the conviction in my eyes. This wasn't a random subject I had brought up, there was a very good reason why I began talking about it.

"You mentioned that I was a long way from home" I purposefully started to look for something that I could tell him without making all of the alarms start going off in his mind about what I could do, but enough so that it wouldn't be entirely unbelievable when I revealed the truth to him. "You could say that I'm an entire world away from home"

I spun around on the balls of my feet before he could make me stay and explain myself further to him, and as I begun to walk out of the kitchen I noticed a still unpacked first aid kit that had been left behind in the kitchen after they had stitched me up the previous night. With deft hands, I sneakily snatched a single saline packet for my fire-axe, as I knew that I would possibly have to use the weapon later that day to amputate a foot off someone.

Getting out of the kitchen was easily done, but it seemed as if I had spent a significantly longer amount of time talking to him than I had expected, as the moment I stepped into the living room I noticed that another person was awake. Luke had just come in from the outside of the cabin, lugging in big bundles off wood in his arms, yet again showing off his expertise in carrying things in ways much more experienced than the typical person could do.

"Oh, hey Prim! Sorry, I hope me chopping wood outside didn't wake you up" Luke apologised in advance in case he had done so, which told me that he actually had woken up before me to do his duties around the cabin. I was more surprised to hear that he could get away with hacking wood without attracting walkers, but I supposed it could have been that he quickly did it before they arrived.

I dryly laughed a little by how casually he was referring to me by, as it had been a far more exclusive club back in my original universe. I supposed that I had invited him to do so in my introductions the previous night, but it had been so long since I heard the name come from someone's lips that it did rattle me more than I had expected.

"Something wrong?" Luke could hear that something was up with my tone when I had laughed, him putting the wood next to the slowly dwindling fire and dusting himself off with an obvious air about him that he was listening to what I was going to say next. I did end up being a little distracted by how sweaty he seemed to be, the little beads of liquid sliding down over his Adam’s apple, but it didn't serve to completely pull my mind away from the original thoughts I was thinking.

"No, it's just that... It's been a long time since I've been called just 'Prim'. The people in my old group who used to call me that were my lovers" Even though I kept my explanation rather brief, it was clear from the sudden downcast emotion in Luke's eyes that he managed to fit together the puzzle pieces of what I was saying. After all, in the game he was smart enough to figure out that most people referred to in the past tense were likely dead, and that if loved ones were no longer around the answer leaned in the same direction. He seemed to shrug off my plural use of the word 'lover', deeming it unimportant in the matter (or who knows, maybe it did just completely fly over his head the first time he heard it), instead focusing directly on me in the moment.

Without any words to bog either of us down, he silently opened his arms out in a manner that told me that he was inviting me in for a hug if I wanted or _needed_ one. With that sharp feeling of emotional anguish pricking at my soul again, I gladly took the hug he was offering to me, slipping in between his arms and sinking into his hold. The moment my arms wrapped around his own chest and my chin came to rest on one of his shoulders, did his arms seem to enclose around me protectively, hiding me away from the rest of the world for a brief second in time.

...He was warm. It was not all that surprising considering the fact he likely had been working hard outside to cut the logs that he had later brought in, but it still stood out to me. He was warm (and admittedly sweaty), he was soft in some places and somewhat rigid in others, but most of all... He was real.

In my old life I had only dreamed of being able to hold him close to me, and the feeling of it being such a rare one in a million chance to actually touch, interact and live with these people didn't pass me by. Everybody from the first season had the exact same rarity to me, as simply existing in their world had seemed like an impossibility. But... The chances of losing them were just as easy as it was when I had seen them in the game, as a single wrong move could make them disappear, with no chances to just casually 'start over' like the game allowed you to.

If I had just relaxed a little in finding the cabin group... If I had been more careful in making our way North rather than charging across the continent... Would I still have everyone from the first season?

Those questions and thoughts seemed to plague my mind, causing me to desperately cling onto Luke in fear of losing him too. He could feel my grip tighten on the back of his shirt, but it didn't worry him in the slightest, him just gently patting the back of my clothing to soothe me. It did seem to help me relax that little bit, a reassurance that he was well and truly there in both meanings... Before I could hear the sound of a door opening behind us.

"Oh! Uh, are you two... Are you guys alright?" I could hear Nick ask us, as he likely had no clue as to what he had stumbled onto. From the sounds of another pair of feet coming out of the same room that he came from, I suspected that it was his Uncle coming to join him out in the living room. Luke gently eased me out of his arms, and it was about them that I realised that I had been crying a little into his shoulder (although it was near impossible to actually notice that on his damp shirt).

"Yeah, we're alright" Luke assured both men that nothing all that concerning was going on, painting the picture that Luke was more relaxed about people crying when they needed to. He still held my shoulders in a way that allowed me to gently wipe away the last traces of my tears if I wanted to, and I took the opportunity presented to me. "We were just talking about people that we've lost in the past, so it got a bit heavy at one point"

"I can only imagine" Pete agreed that the subject would end up making anyone teary (or at the very least, upset), but neither of the two recently roused men seemed to ask for further details. They likely would like their privacy if the tables had been turned (i.e. Luke and I had stumbled upon them in a sad discussion) so it was only right that they owed us the similar decency after all. "If you'd like to stay behind today while Nick and I check out the river, that's perfectly fine by us"

"No, that's alright" I quickly made sure to appear decent so that they wouldn't possibly force me to stay behind. I needed to go with them in the possibly high chance that this was going to be the day that they encounter the horde of dead scavengers, and then subsequently the walkers, as then we could possibly lose the both of them. Nick did survive in the game due to... The luck of the Irish? The sheer will of the game developers? Who knew, but I didn't want to bet on that saving his life this time around, and I certainly knew that we were going to lose Pete if I didn't go with them. "I'm alright, the fresh air and movement will do me good"

"I support that second part, we don't want her to run the chance that her left arm will atrophy" Carlos joined the discussion, coming out of the kitchen. Whether he was thinking of asking about what I had mentioned to him earlier or not, he didn't say anything about it at that point in time.

"So it won't what?" Luke was confused with the term that Carlos was using, but I did remember Alex mentioning it once.

"It means the muscles will degrade if I don't use them" I explained it to Luke, and I could spy Carlos smiling softly into his coffee as he took a sip from it. He likely was used to not being able talk much medical jargon with people in the group beyond his own daughter (who had second-hand experience from his work), so he seemed pleased to have someone who understood what he was saying.

"Ha, yeah, that's why I tell Nick to switch things up when he's beating his meat. Don't want one arm to get much bigger than the other, you know?" Pete once again seemed in the mood for embarrassing his nephew, who honestly looked like he was considering socking his uncle to make him shut up. When the rest of the guys proceeded to look at him in a horrified manner, he pulled the rug from under us by actually showing that he was meaning something else. "My father gave me the same advice when I used to tenderize steak"

...Something told me that he was still actually referring to the dirtier meaning behind it, but beyond snickering under my breath, I decided to not say anything about it.

"Just... Just get ready when we're leaving in an hour" Nick informed me much more simply about what we were going to be doing, already looking like he was completely done with the day before it had begun.

"I'll be ready" I assured them, the hour time limit being plenty to prepare my axe and more importantly; my own mind. Whether those walkers and scavengers liked it or not, I was going to be fiercely protecting these people like a mother bear protected her cubs, with every means available to me.


	8. Like Uncle, like Nephew

Duck and Clementine quickly learned about why I was so eager to be with Nick and Pete that day, as I managed to whisper some of the fine details of the situation. Like the time I had profited from Shawn being there in the first season to solve the dilemma with Doug and Carley's split second decision, I knew that I needed to have someone with me who could go to either man in case the worst were to unfold. Clementine admitted she was interested in getting to know Sarah, so she volunteered to stay behind while Sam and Duck came with me instead.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that Carlos was more than happy for both daughters to hang out with one another while I was gone - something that I chalked up to the fact that he didn't see Clementine as an interloper like he did in the game, as well as the connection I had made with him in the meantime - so everything truly seemed to be going to plan. After packing up our backpacks and readying our weapons, we set off.

From the moment we stepped out in the woods towards the river, it became obvious that Pete and Nick had differing priorities on what they were doing. Pete, like the game had him do, was more interested in passing the time by getting to know the three people from my group better, while Nick was... Well, silent.

"You certainly look young to handle a rifle there Duck" Pete observed the weapon in Duck's hands, obviously thinking that he looked too young to be handling a weapon with a fierce amount of kick on it. He did occasionally get distracted from talking to Duck and I because of Sam slinking in between Pete and I, which made the older man often pause for a moment to pet our loyal companion. "Are you sure you're okay with it?"

"Yeah, I've been using it for nearly a year now" I was reminded of how long it had been since we had lost the group from the first season, as the two years slipping by had seemed like it was a movie on fast forward rather than the normal passage of time. "The kickback isn't that bad if you hold it correctly"

"Hah, if only Nick knew the same the first time he held a rifle" Pete quite easily turned the subject towards teasing his nephew, something which I had expected as the story he was going to tell sounded close enough to the one that he told in the game. Nick predictably grumbled in annoyance, dawdling even further back from Pete and I at the front despite the fact he was already acting as our rear guard. "Nick, don't get too far away"

"I'm going to the bathroom" Nick responded, but it was unclear to me as to whether he actually needed to heed the call of nature or was simply making up an excuse to no longer have to listen to his uncle any further. Whether it was an excuse or not, it did actually seem as if he needed to go, as he slung his rifle over his shoulder and turned away in an obvious bid for privacy.

"I'll stay behind with him" Duck could clearly see that Pete wasn't slowing down in his walking speed, so Duck halted his own progress so that Nick wouldn't end up being left on his own... Something that did seem to embarrass Nick, as he clearly wasn't expecting an audience.

"You, uh... You don't have to wait with me" I could just barely hear Nick try to explain to Duck that he wanted more privacy, but Duck was having none of it because of what I and Glenn had drummed into him so long ago.

"The buddy system trumps politeness" Duck bluntly turned down Nick's attempt to get him away, something which did actually make me smile as it made me proud to hear him taking good care of others and himself. Sam noticed Duck lagging behind more, so Sam ended up trotting over to also wait with them. Even though it was clear that we all loved Sam equally in our group, Sam did have his favourite person in the form of Duck.

My proud smile in regards to Duck didn't slip by unnoticed by Pete, as he likely could see the familiar look of pride in someone's features concerning their children. In fact, the moment we were out of earshot of both Duck and Nick, he seemed to drop the persona of the perverted uncle and instead relaxed into something that I knew him far better for in the game.

"My sister used to have the same look in her eyes when Nick did something good" Pete seemed quite happy to speak about Nick's mother, obviously still holding her in high regard despite the fact that she was no longer with either of them. "God, she sometimes coddled him a bit much in my opinion, but she was an amazing mother. I don't know if it means anything to you, but I think you're a lot like her in regards to how you're raising your two kids"

"Thank you, that actually means a lot to me" I honestly was able to find the words to express my gratitude, as hearing from someone fatherly like such as Carlos and Pete that I was doing a good job with Clementine and Duck eased those thoughts of whether I was doing right by them. Naturally the way you raised children was slightly altered in that new world considering the increased dangers that came with it, but altogether the part of raising them into good people seemed to be similar to the normal life we had lost long ago. "What was she like by the way?"

"Oh, she had this most horrific temper when she was upset with someone, but I think it was good that she had it. A lot of people tried to take advantage of her because of the fact she was a single mum, so her proud nature and confidence served her well" Pete paused for a moment in our trek, clear and obvious pride reflected in his own eyes while he was talking about his sister. I could understand how clear it was to other people who knew those feelings, as just like he could see it in my own features, it was very obvious when he was wearing that pride like a badge of honour as well. "Nick did pick up both parts of her, the prideful and good parts of her, but I... I honestly worry that he's losing one and not the other. It's kind of why I keep trying to drag him back down to earth by poking fun at him, but... I don't think it's working anymore"

...His jokes weren't truly to poke fun at Nick, they were there in an attempt to remind him that the prideful side of him wasn't going to earn him any friends in this new world. Now that I finally understood why they were there, I could partly understand why it was constantly being brought up, but it also reminded me sharply of my own father... In all the wrong ways.

"...If I may overstep my boundaries for a bit, I don't think that's going to work" I took a bit of a leap by trying to alter how Pete treated his own nephew relatively early on in my time with the cabin group, and I could see from the moment that Pete gave me a questioning look that he was going to be quite similar to how Katjaa had been when I suggested teaching Duck on how to shoot a gun two years prior; reluctant to change his ways. "I can get where you're coming from, my father tried adopting a similar 'tough love' attitude with me when I was growing up, but I think at this rate it would only serve to make Nick drift further away from you and refuse to listen to anything you say"

"I get that" Pete sighed as he said that, obviously already seeing those things happening between his relationship with his nephew. Thankfully it seemed as if my advice wasn't coming across as being completely intrusive and unwanted, which meant that I was actually getting through to the older man much better that I had originally thought that I was going to be. "But if I don't bring him back down to earth, who will? Luke doesn't have the courage to speak that way to his childhood friend, he doesn't respect Carlos and Alvin wouldn't take that sort of tone with anyone beyond... Never mind, the point is that nobody else will take that role with him anymore"

"Maybe that's a sign that he doesn't actually need 'tough love' right now" I tried to steer his thinking as to why the tough love route wouldn't work, quite obviously backed up by the fact that it wasn't getting through to Nick as he had hoped it would. "Think about it Pete. Nick, Luke and I are still kind of going through an awkward phase in our lives of changing from a teenager to an adult as it is"

"But you seem to be doing fine" Pete didn't quite get the comparison between myself and the two barely adults from his own group, but I had a response that was both joking and serious in itself.

"That's because I'm a woman, we have an easier time in maturing then guys do as it is" I grinned as I said that to emphasize that I was making a joke out of it, something that he appreciated with his own deep chuckle. "But the thing is, that sort of change is difficult enough in a normal world, let alone in this new reality of ours. Suddenly being expected by our peers to know what we're doing, when in reality we are just as clueless as when we were teenagers, would take a toll on anyone... Let alone someone who recently lost one of their guiding parental figures in life"

I knew that was a bit of a leap to make for a stranger in the game, as most people wouldn't be able to accurately guess that Nick's mother had passed away recently rather than the beginning of the apocalypse. Luckily, if the far off look in Pete's eyes was anything to go on, he hadn't picked up on the weird leap of logic that I had made. And even if he did, it simply meant that it would be easier for him to understand the truth when it eventually came out.

"I think it may be hard for him to admit... Sort of like how it is for me as well, but we need more help than we let on to others commonly" I further emphasized my point by gently holding up my injured left arm, as I still had the bad habit of not taking care of myself as well as I did others. He knew this, as not only was I throwing myself into work long before I was healed, but he had stumbled onto my little breakdown in Luke's arms as well. "I don't think he needs to have someone dragging him back down to earth, I honestly think he needs to know that he has an Uncle that cares about him. One that will support him"

Pete was silent in response, the look in his eyes telling me that he truly was taking my words to heart and mulling them over in his mind. After all, like I was experiencing with my own children that I was raising, there wasn't always a rule-book on how to raise people correctly. And if the game was reflecting the truth of how Pete lived, he didn't have kids of his own to compare to this new development.

We weren't alone for much longer, with Nick, Duck and Sam re-joining us not that much further from where they had stopped. Nick's eyes drifted from my face over to his Uncle's, obviously picking up that we had some kind of serious discussion between us, but he couldn't immediately recognise what it exactly had been about.

"Telling more embarrassing stories about me while I was away?" Nick took a stab in the dark as to what we had actually been talking about, aiming for something that seemed to be quite normal for Pete to do. This time it was completely the wrong direction, but I couldn't really blame him for guessing something along those lines considering Pete's habit of doing exactly what he had described. I decided to not say much about it, leaving it up to Pete if he actually wanted to mention the truth, conveniently taking a sip of water from one of my water bottles to keep my mouth shut.

"No, I wasn't talking about you nearly shooting me in the gut once, nor about the time that you got a STD" Pete casually mentioned those, but if his hand slapping over his mouth was anything to go by, it had been purely accidental rather than on purpose.

It turned out that my decision to take a sip from my water was quite bad timing, as the moment the latter half of his sentence truly registered in my mind I accidentally choked on my water, causing it to come out in a literal spit take. Unexpectedly, Nick was not impressed, his tan face turning a shade of red that I didn't really think was possible for someone of his skin colour.

"PETE!" He cried out in a mixture of pure appal and disdain, quite clearly thinking that it was another case of his Uncle purposefully dragging his reputation through the mud.

"It was an accident!" Pete tried to explain that it hadn't been on purpose, but like the story of the boy who had cried wolf, Nick didn't believe him because of how often it hadn't been an accident in the past.

"Auntie Prim, what's an STD?" Duck had to ask me, as he clearly didn't know what it was (I couldn't imagine Katjaa telling him about it) and it seemed unlikely that either man was going to tell him... And honestly, I was even less inclined to tell him about it while in the presence of either older man. Even Sam was paying attention quite purposefully, which further served to make Nick want to escape the embarrassment.

"...I'm going ahead!" Nick barged past the both of us, clearly not wanting to hear anything else from the rest of us, despite the fact that Pete was still trying to explain that it hadn't been on purpose. Unfortunately for him, Duck and Sam followed directly behind him, still quoting the rule that Glenn and I had made.

"Buddy system!" Duck ignored the fact that he didn't get the answer to the question he had posed, instead focusing on making sure that no walker was going to hurt Nick while he was separated from us again. Sam even happily barked as he followed both younger men, which once again left me with Pete.

"...Old habits die hard, huh?" I decided that it was high time that someone teased Pete in return, and he seemed to take it much easier in his stride, as he uttered a laugh that sounded quite self-deprecating in manner.

"That they do" Pete sighed a little, before picking up his feet and following behind the three boys who had gone ahead of us. "I don't know if it makes any difference to you, but it was a curable one. It also got cured a long time ago"

I laughed, shaking my head softly to both indicate that it didn't bother me as much as it would others, and also to hopefully dispel the slight feeling of a blush creeping up on my own cheeks. But now that Pete seemed like he was going to try and relax about his tendency to tease his nephew, there was another thing that I was wondering about.

"Speaking of teasing however, I do think that I have a right to know about why you're teasing another person" I decided that I wanted to know where I stood with him, but the confused look in his eyes seemed to say that my wording had been vague enough that he now was unsure who we were talking about. "...Me, Pete. I'm talking about me"

"Oh! Yeah, I was wondering when this discussion was going to come up" Pete had apparently been thinking about it in his own time, but not for the reasons I had been initially thinking of. "If it's bothering you, then please feel free to tell me. I don't want you to actually become uncomfortable with my jokes"

"...And if I don't find them uncomfortable?" I asked him with a sly smile on my face, which certainly seemed to peak his interest.

"Well, I guess I would be surprised. Most people are disgruntled by either the implication behind them or for the simple fact that they don't find them funny" Pete seemed as if he hadn't encountered someone responding positively to his jokes towards them in the past, and his following words seemed to also imply that making jokes like that towards women was not the run of the mill for him. "Then again, it's not like I commonly make those jokes to just any woman I meet... But never mind, doesn't the age difference bother you?"

"Considering the fact I used to have a lover that had a sixteen year age gap between my age and his, I'd say that the age gap between you and I isn't that bad" I explained, because as far as I was aware, Pete did not look older than Kenny did when I knew him. It didn't seem to be, as Pete didn't seem to think it a problem once he heard about it, but he did sprinkle in a joke that reminded me vaguely of Hershel Greene.

"I sure hope he was the older one" He joked, and my simple response was to snort softly under my breath and lightly punch him in the arm. He laughed as well, which signified that everything was as it should be. And just as things were settling back down in my mind, I heard the call coming from Nick that signified that today was truly the day that I needed to watch out for Nick and Pete.

"Uncle Pete!"


	9. Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble

As usual, the game painfully couldn't replicate the sheer horror that their scenes would sow in real life. Instead of static corpses being randomly placed around the two river banks and the island, there was an absolute mess of blood and guts strewn around in the quiet area. Rather than the idea of a scavenger group being carefully hunted by a group of people, it was more like they were maliciously gunned down in whatever way possible... Like it was a sport.

"Who... Who would do this?" Duck didn't understand the need for absolute mayhem, as even in the past when I had sanctioned killing people in self defense and to protect ourselves, I had never taught either Clementine or Duck that shooting someone for fun was something to aim for. I gently placed a hand on his shoulder to remind him that I was still there, that I wouldn't let anything happen to him, and he gently moved one of his own hands over it to show his appreciation for the gesture. "I'm glad Clementine didn't have to see this"

"Only monsters do this sort of thing" Pete spoke in a furious tone, which seemed to suggest that he knew who did this. It didn't take many leaps of my mind to conclude that Pete was likely thinking that it was Carver who had committed the act. Even though the remote idea of anyone being alive in the midst of that bloodbath was frankly naive, Pete moved over to one of the nearby bodies and began to check it over. The game never had truly explained if Nick and Pete were simply pilfering valuable items off the corpses or were trying to see if they recognised any of the bodies that were left behind, and it seemed unlikely that I would get an answer if I were to ask about it then. "Nick, Prim, could the both of you check out the ones on the island and the far side?"

"What?! We should be getting out of here, not poking around dead bodies in this area" Nick didn't sound like he was really into the idea of staying in the area long, which I could completely get behind. After all, there was the chance that the same people who had gunned those scavengers down would return later to check over their handiwork. Pete didn't respond to Nick's claim, effectively putting his foot down that they _had_ to check the corpses, which only caused the younger man to come up with reasons for why it was nonsense. "None of these guys are going to be alive to ask for information, and frankly I'm not willing to risk my life to see if they have a leftover muesli bar - or something else as stupid as that - in their pockets"

"I agree with Nick" I backed up the young man standing directly beside me, and I could notice the slight surprise in his eyes to find that someone was agreeing with him on something. It likely had happened in the group that his opinion was discarded for either being 'too rash' or 'too foolish', poking holes in his ideas for no other reason than the fact that Nick was young and somewhat hot-headed. Even if Nick hadn't been one of my absolute favourites from the entire series, his logic still made more sense in the new world. "Look at these corpses Pete, none of them would be alive even if they didn't get hit in the head. They also aren't wearing any backpacks, so the chances of finding any sort of good supplies are quite low"

"...We used to be a part of a larger community a while ago, I just want to be sure that none of these guys are them" Pete did divulge some extra information about their past to me, and it likely would have meant absolutely nothing to a normal person... But it certainly seemed to ring some bells in my own mind. He was hoping that the scavenger group didn't involve anyone from the Howe's Hardware community, as that could only mean bad things (that they were being followed, that Carver was actually willing to shoot his own people if they crossed him, things along those lines). "And who knows, maybe you recognise some of these people? You mentioned that you got lost from your old group"

"That's a low blow Uncle Pete" Nick told off his Uncle before I could, clearly noticing enough of my interactions with Luke and Carlos to note that it wasn't very likely that these scavengers were my old group from the first season. Even if one of the corpses was them, it could only mean that they had risen as a walker and stumbled around the woods before being felled by some random person. Either way, it was a rude remark to make to me, as it was just coming up with excuses for why we had to stay rather than taking my feelings into account. Pete did look apologetic when I glanced over to him, but it was a bit late to suddenly claim that he didn't mean to say what he had said. "You know what? Fine. Let's check these stupid corpses and get going. Come on Prim, you can come with me to the island and the far side of the river"

"What happened to the buddy system?" Pete asked Nick in exasperation as the younger man confidently strode into the river to cross over to the island, which made me hurry into the river as well to keep up with Nick. It seemed to be an unfortunate problem between the two men that Pete would say something unintentionally hurtful, Nick would storm off, and the cycle would repeat not much later once they regrouped with each other. If I was ever going to fix their relationship with each other, then we certainly needed to solve that massive rift between them.

"Duck and Sam can stay with you" Nick dismissively responded, clearly thinking that taking me along with him was some kind of punishment to his Uncle. Duck didn't seem bothered by who he was staying with, happily smiling with a salute to me when I glanced back to make sure that he was fine with the arrangement. And to be fair, I wasn't entirely sure if Pete _did_ see it as a punishment, as the hurt look in his eyes could have been directed at either of us leaving him.

The river was much deeper than the game suggested, reaching high enough on me to soak my pants all the way up to my waist. Luckily my pistol and other precious things were tucked away in my water proof pockets on my canvas pocket belt, and my fire axe, rifle and backpack were safe on my back, so it wasn't catastrophic to anything that I was carrying.

One thing that was a little concerning was the fact that the river was also far stronger than I had guessed, threatening to drag me down river if I slipped or tripped on anything below the surface. Nick moved across the river so confidently that I had difficulty in keeping up with him, as his longer legs and vast experience were leaving me far behind him. I somewhat stupidly tried to speed up my own movements to not lag too far away, but that went haywire when I felt one of my boots slip off a particularly slimy rock underneath the surface. They were designed to be non-slip boots, but that didn't exactly work underwater.

"Whoa, easy there" Nick was keeping a better eye on me than I had expected, reaching out with his right hand to grasp my left arm before I went tumbling into the river and subsequently down it. He remained motionless until I got my balance back, but even then he still kept his grip on me until I shuffled forward and was directly beside him rather than behind him. "Sorry, I forgot that you were a city girl for a second"

"City girl?" I had never been called that before, with me showing it very evidently through my tone and confused mannerisms. Nick chuckled softly, even further helping me onto the island in the middle of the river, at least doing me the decency to explain to me what he had called me before he moved on.

"Yeah, a city girl. Someone who's never really been in the country or wilderness before" He explained it, but I was unsure about how he had come to that conclusion. I mean, nearly tripping in a river didn't automatically mean that I had to have come from the city. "Your accent kind of gave it away, you speak too posh for country folk"

"...I mean, I am from Britain, where crossing rivers is not exactly the most common thing to do, so I guess you aren't wrong" I laughed, as British people were certainly no longer considered to be 'wilderness explorers'. It was pleasing to the eye to see Nick smiling softly in response, before we seemed to straighten ourselves out to do our jobs in checking the scavengers. "Is there anything specific that we should be looking for? A particular face?"

"I honestly don't know" Nick sighed as he carefully pushed one of the corpses over so that he could see their face. Truthfully, there was no identifying features of that particular corpse, as whatever weapon had been used against them had caused the top half of their head to appear as if it had exploded from the inside out. With a grimace, Nick let that one corpse drop back down, before standing up to talk with me about it. "There were few people that I really cared about in the community that Pete mentioned before, and there is of course the chance that these guys are all new people who joined the community; we wouldn't be able to tell"

"You guys didn't get along with the others in the community?" I tried to play off my question as completely innocent, as I had a strong inkling that they wouldn't completely believe my future telling abilities if I told them about it straight away.

"That's putting it mildly" Nick scowled as he said that, showing quit clearly that he had bad memories with the community. But what he said next ended up blowing all of my preconceived thoughts out of the water, as it was not what I had expected. "Someone in that community let someone who was bitten come in, despite protests from several people, including myself. When it came time for my mother to treat the bitten person, that same person just let her get attacked without doing a thing"

I was absolutely silent in response, as I had never expected that to be the reason for why Nick had lost his mother. It seemed as if my stunned expression and my lack of words was exactly the reaction that he had hoped to get from me, as it no doubt reinforced his belief that it was completely messed up beyond what words could convey.

"...Yeah, that's how I feel about it too" Nick quietly mumbled that response, being able to tell that even though I wasn't saying anything that I felt similar emotions as he was in that moment. With a slow, deep sigh to end off that depressing subject, Nick turned his attention back over to the corpses on the island. "Come on, I'd like to get out of here before something goes wrong"

I knew there wasn't exactly much that I could do to speed up the process, as I had no clue what sort of faces would look familiar to him or Nick. Even so, I stuck quite close to him, even finding a spot in one of his elbows to gently place one of my hands in. It was a tender touch that I put behind it; the entire movement reminding me of how some older couples would link their arms together... And it seemed to be something that Nick appreciated, especially considering the gloomy emotions that we had shared. He glanced over it for a second, before turning his head back to the task at hand in a way that suggested that he not only allowed the contact, but even possibly cherished it.

"Did you find anyone familiar?" Pete called from his side of the river to us, which caused Nick to stiffen as though he had been shocked out of some peaceful trance. I didn't decide to retract my arm, instead shuffling beside Nick so that we swivelled as a twosome around to look at Pete.

"Frankly, the faces are impossible to recognise over here on the island" Nick gestured first to one of the nearby corpses before lifting a single hand away from his rifle to pretend to shoot himself in the head, signifying that the damage had been done by guns. I noticed in particular that he took care to use his right hand to do so, even when it had seemed like he was originally going to use his left; but changed his mind when he realised that my right hand was still on his elbow, not wanting to disturb it. "I'm not sure how much luck we're going to have on the other side of the river"

"I had a similar result over here" Pete huffed a little, clearly emphasising the fact that we hadn't gotten any sort of answer that he was hoping. We didn't even have the resulting answer that none of these guys were from their own community, as the bodies were far too mangled to make the judgement call that they weren't familiar. "Darn it. In that case, we'd better head back now to the others back at the cabin to report what we found"

"We're not going to try and take the fish traps back?" Duck peered up and down the river, but after a bit of investigating it seemed to say that the fish traps had either floated away or been stolen. "Ah, that's probably the reason why the scavengers shOOowed up in the first place; to steal the fish"

"Haha, I remember the first time my voice broke" Pete ended up breaking the unspoken rule of not mentioning when Duck's voice occasionally broke, but luckily the worst reaction he got from Duck was a sigh and an eye roll instead of him storming off. "Hey, don't worry about it. It doesn't last as long as people say it does"

Nick and I were more than happy with the decision to duck back to the cabin, as the idea of getting ambushed by the walkers or killing squad certainly didn't sound like a good idea. We remained linked as Nick moved forward to enter the water and cross back over to the other side, something which I appreciated because of my earlier stumble... But something in the water distracted me for a moment.

There was some large dark shape moving around in the water, it being very sluggish and slow. I wasn't sure if it was some kind of gigantic fish or something along those lines, but the dreaded feeling in my gut had returned at the sight of it. The fact that I froze at the water’s edge made Nick stop at the same time, looking over at me with confusion on why I was suddenly skittish to enter the same water that I had trudged through earlier.

"You worried that you're going to be swept away again? Don't worry, if we're linked like this then there's no way that is going to happen" Nick did his best to reassure me that I wasn't in any danger, and while I appreciated what he was trying to do, I had learned by then to listen to that feeling in my gut. Whether it was some kind of extra little help that the blue comet had given me when I was brought to this world, I wasn't sure, but I certainly wasn't going to ignore it considering the previous two times it had happened in moments where I had nearly died.

"No, it's not that. Do you see the big fish over there?" I asked him, using my spare left hand to point over at the dark shape. Now that he and I were looking closer... There actually were more dark shapes in the water than I had first seen.

"...What the heck? That doesn't look like a fish to me, it's-

Whatever Nick had guessed it to be, the dark shape expanded in size massively, causing both he and I to rapidly backpedal away from the shore in fear of whatever it was. The water of the river seemed to bubble violently, as though a geyser had been set off beneath our very feet, but I knew that was not the answer to what was going on. A moment later the strange creature breached the water, sloshing muddy water all around it. It was only once the silt filled water spilled off it entirely did we recognise what it was, the more obvious growling noise rasping out of its throat being the far more distinct tell-tale sign of its origin.

"Lurkers!" Nick called out to warn Pete, Duck and Sam on the other side of the river, who up until that point had been doing nothing more than innocently talking about coming of age like Pete had done and that Duck was currently experiencing. Almost as if the nasty things reacted to being called, the first walker got joined by several others in the water, around five all surfacing to rear their ugly heads at us. In fact, one of them seemed to have a big dent in it's skull, spelling out that the slippery rock I had slipped on was not actually a rock.

"Shoot! Hold on guys, I'm coming to get you!" Pete called back to us, as it was quite obvious that the six walkers in the river were aiming for Nick and I. Pete preparing his rifle to assist us was clearly up all of his attention, as he didn't hear the growling of a walker scrabbling over the ground near his feet... But Duck was there to solve the problem.

"Look out!" Duck warned the older man, quickly seizing his survival knife and stabbing the walker in the head before it could get it's hands (or more importantly, it's teeth) around Pete's ankles. I didn't want to risk Pete getting hurt in his attempt to help us, so I quickly started to look around for ways to solve the situation we had stumbled into.

"Pete! Take Duck and Sam back to the cabin! I'll make sure that Nick and I will get back safe!" I ordered the three guys on the other side of the river, turning my head to look at the side of the river that had nobody on it. I wasn't sure if there were any walkers hiding in that side of the river, but I noticed that we were closer to that side than we were to Pete and Duck's side. In fact, there was a conveniently placed rock that stuck out a bit over the river, which looked like it would be easy to leap off and reach the other side without even having to dip our toes into the water. "Nick, if we jump from that rock we can easily reach the other side"

Nick fired off a single round from his rifle into the nearest walker that was stumbling a little too close to us for his liking, before quickly looking at what I was directing him to. It certainly wasn't the nicest sounding plan, as it would mean that we were separated from the others, but it reduced the chances of anyone getting bitten.

"Alright, let's go" Nick agreed with my plan, the both of us letting go of each other’s arms for a moment so that we could build up as much speed as possible. With my strong leg muscles and his own long legs, it was a piece of cake to leap over the water, landing in the dirt on the other side of the river with a _crunch_ under our feet.

"Auntie Prim!" Duck was worried about the idea of being separated from me, with Sam also barking loudly in our direction due to how far away I was getting. Unfortunately for them, the extra noise they were making did make the six walkers in the water start to turn around to aim for them instead.

"Get somewhere safe, that's an order you're not allowed to ignore this time!" I made sure to drum that into him, as sacrificing himself while I lived on was not something I was going to allow, especially if his sacrifice would mean nothing. Duck didn't look pleased, but Pete was there to lead him away with Sam.

Once it was certain that the three of them were well and truly going, Nick and I made our escape into the woods on the other side of the river. It was clear that I didn't know what I was doing, as the game never had provided exact directions for how the player was supposed to find the little shed or the caravan that either person would end up finding. As such, I ended up showing exactly the thing that Nick had teased me earlier about, seeming very 'city girl' like in the sense that I just began to run forward without a single plan to mind.

I was endlessly relieved when Nick took the reins over for where we were going, grabbing my right arm and pulling me in a particular direction through the woods, only occasionally slowing slowing down if I tripped over something. My body was still quite used to running and walking everywhere, so the twenty minute sprint through the woods ended up being perfectly fine for me.

"There, I think I see something that we can hide in until things calm down" Nick spotted the very shed that the game would have the player end up in, the both of us heading there with an eagerness to be inside some sort of building. It was made more apparent by the slight raspy note to his breathing that the sprinting was just beginning to take its toll on him, which meant that the shed was perfectly timed.

When he pushed the door open to the shed, I did a quick check through it with my pistol raised to make sure that there was going to be no walker that had been left behind, before we settled in. I tried to push one of the heavy boxes over to block the doors, but Nick hurriedly shooed me away from doing it.

"You can't use your left arm yet, let me do it" Nick gently pried my hands off the box, before lugging the heavy thing himself and letting it thud in front of the wooden doors. For a moment there was no talking, just the sounds of heavier breathing from our sprint through the woods, when something occurred to Nick. "Prim, can I see your left arm for a second?"

"Honestly Nick, I'm not made of porcelain" I chuckled with how protective he was being of me in my injured state, thinking that he was exaggerating a little. After all, the worst treatment that arm had received so far was either from me forgetting how injured it was or when he had grabbed it to stop me falling in the river. Even as I said that, he still trudged himself towards me, holding his hand out in such a manner that told me that he was still waiting for me to hold up my arm for him to inspect. "Really? The stitches aren't going to burst open from just thinking about it"

"It's not that" Nick took the initiative to move his own hands to grasp my arm and bring it upwards considering how stubborn I was being about it. He couldn't recognise much from the plaid shirt that I had been lent, so he rolled that up until he could see the bandages that Carlos had put on top of it. There wasn't particularly anything new about them, and that fact seemed to relieve Nick to no end. "You nearly fell into the river, remember? If the lurkers were in the water all that time, and your arm ever got dipped into the water, then there could be a second hand infection if the water seeped into your wound"

"Oh!" The reason for why he wanted to see my arm made so much more sense now that he had given his reasons behind it, which made me even more grateful for his earlier decision to grab me before I had fallen in. After all, I could have accidentally swallowed the same water even if my arm had been perfectly dry, so Nick had saved me in two different ways. "It didn't get wet, you grabbed me before I could fall in. You even managed to grab the correct arm out of the two"

"And you didn't drink any water from the river when I was turned around at one point?" Nick made doubly sure that he couldn't have missed anything that would have infected me, and I was more than pleased to report that the thought hadn't appealed to me in the slightest.

"No, I honestly thought the water was too gross from the corpses to do that" I assured him that there was no way the water from the river had been taken into my system, and the relief was immediate in his body. His stiff posture slumped slightly and a heavy sigh left him with a comforted look in his eyes. "What about you?"

"You couldn't have paid me to drink that water" He bluntly responded, but the slight grin was clear in his features.

The both of us ended up laughing softly, the usually corny jokes seeming far funnier than in the past, possibly for the simple reason that we had come incredibly close to losing the option to do that. Just surviving was enough of a reason to enjoy ourselves in that moment, which was truly a simplified way of living. Surviving enough so that you got the option to thrive.

"So... We're probably going to have to wait until the lurkers settle down a little bit outside before we can head back towards the cabin" Nick peered out of one of the windows to see if we had attracted a lot of walkers in the meantime, but so far it was all quiet. Even so, I could completely understand the caution before heading back. "I guess there's nothing better to do then talk quietly amongst ourselves until we think we're good to go"

"Aww, Nick, if you wanted to get me alone to talk to me you could have just asked" I softly teased him, and it even seemed as if teasing was completely fine to do at that point. Who knew, perhaps it was also because of who exactly was teasing him and whether it was done in a flirtatious manner.

"Darn, you've uncovered my nefarious plan"


	10. Powers Beyond Our Control

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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True to what Nick had suggested that we do, we sat quietly against one of the walls of the shed and simply began to talk about whatever crossed our minds.

I learned about his family, about how his mother had been abandoned by his blood father and how she had done her best to raise him without all too much help, and in turn I talked about my family with him as well. He seemed somewhat envious of my remarks of actually having a loving father, to which he asked me at one point what that was like; and my simple answer was that my father was close to what Pete was to Nick. Nick didn't seem to know what to do with that remark, silently mulling it over in his mind before changing the subject to something else.

His favourite colour was red, which originally began because he had wanted to be a firefighter when he was a tiny tot, and later still remained his favourite simply because he liked the red poppy's that his mother always grew in their garden at home. I opened up and admitted that my favourite colour was truly pink, but I never admitted it to people because I was worried that it would be perceived as 'too girly' a colour to like. Nick responded in his typical manner, saying that people who did see it that way could 'go fuck themselves'. While I did lightly reprimand his use of language, I did appreciate it very much, and he could clearly see this with the slight smile creeping its way up onto my lips.

Furthermore, apparently the clothing I had been lent for the day had originally belonged to Nick. He only proceeded to turn a brighter red when I took a particularly deep whiff of the collar of the shirt I was wearing; remarking that I enjoyed the smell of aftershave in the collar. Nick quickly changed the subject with that typical shade of red on his face, which just served to make me laugh happily at his cute demeanour.

After several other menial discussions about ourselves, the conversation seemed to shift over to a topic that I wasn't really sure that I liked all that much.

"So, I know that you've mentioned that you lost a group" It was Nick's turn to start a topic, and his seemed to accidentally wander too close to delicate matters. I knew that he likely wouldn't hold it against me if I said that I didn't want to talk about it, as he had that right himself if I ever asked him about his own mother, but by that point I had already opened up quite a bit to him so it felt only fair to completely bring my walls down around him. "If you don't mind me asking, what were they like?"

"Oh... Well, frankly there were quite a number of them, so it wouldn't be very fair to sort them all into archetypes or something along those lines" I sighed, as I certainly couldn't imagine that I could explain all of the members from the first season with a simple term such as 'stubborn', 'kind' or 'confident'. "They all cared about me very much, even if they weren't included in the ten lovers that I had. Now that I think about it, only the kids, Christa and Katjaa were-

"Wait, wait just a second" Nick cut me off once the particular specifications of what I said seemed to really hammer home in his head. Unlike Luke, who either ignored or was completely oblivious to the implications of me having multiple partners, Nick noticed it almost immediately. "Did you just say 'ten lovers'?"

"I did" I confirmed that he wasn't hearing me wrong, something that certainly did seem surprising to him, if the startled expression on his face was anything to go by. While there was a part of me that was internally freaking out at the idea of him seeing me as some sort of freak, his face was too cute to ignore, which prompted me to gently tap his nose like I had done when I was delirious. "You should see the look on your face"

"Well, it's just... How did that even work?" Nick couldn't seem to wrap his head entirely around it, it likely once again coming from a place that he had always been taught that being monogamous was the only choice in life. It kind of reminded me of Kenny when he had first heard about it from me, which bode well in the sense that their confusion was less about genuine dislike of the practice but more along the lines of ignorance. "Did you have a different lover for each day of the week? Wait, no, that wouldn't work either because there were ten..."

"Easy Nick, I can hear the gears in your brain shifting so hard from trying to understand this" I gently pat his shoulder to bring him out of his confused state, essentially telling him that it was not as difficult as it sounded. "I was dating all of them. Even if I wasn't directly showing it to them, each one knew that I loved them very much. If they wanted more attention spent on them at any particular moment, then all they had to do was ask"

"...Did they get jealous at all of each other?" He began to ask questions that sounded more like he was coming around to the idea that it was just something normal that I was a part of, which was exactly the type of reaction I was hoping to hear from him. Even if everyone else at the cabin didn't really get it, then at least Nick would.

"In the beginning, yes. I don't think it necessarily was because they didn't like each other, but there was a worry in the back of their minds that somehow I would be 'stolen' from them by someone else" I recalled some of those moments in my mind, especially in the three months that we spent at the dinky little motel in Macon. The memories from remembering them no longer seemed to carry that same sharp stab of pain, which was steadily showing that talking about the good times with my old group was helping me to slowly come to terms with the fact that they were no longer around me. "It took some people longer than others, but I truly believe that once they realised that I was going to love them no matter what, they relaxed and realised that there was no danger to their status as my lover. From those moments onward, they saw their fellow lovers less like rivals and more like friends. It was kind of like building a house, everyone else was just extra support beams to make the most beautiful house together"

When I allowed myself to return to the real world, I could spy that Nick was paying close attention to the blissful look on my face. He smiled when my attention returned to him, something akin to a bittersweet smile that reminded him of good times in his old life before the world had gone to hell in a hand basket.

"It sounds like you really cared about them" Nick spoke softly, his tone torn between regretting that he could never meet the people who had brought me so much joy, and simple happiness for the fact that I had managed to find my way to him next.

"I do. They really are..." I realised very quickly that I had defaulted back to talking about them as if they were still alive, which quickly made that sharp pain jab into my soul once again. It was almost like it was back when I was in my old world, considering those people alive even when others told me that they were nothing more than code. Even as the tears began to threaten to return, I shook them away with a simple movement of my head, before finishing my sentence. "...They were good people"

Nick didn't say anything in response; he could tell that no matter how delicately he would pick his words it would end up falling short. Instead his attention turned to the small window that we were sitting below, judging whether it was time to start heading back. From the orange glow coming through the completely cloud covered sky, it was likely nearing dusk, but waiting for dawn the next morning would likely be bad for the both of us because of the lack of food in that shed. And thus, because of the lack of walkers lurking around outside of the shed, he seemed to decide that there wasn't really a better time to get going.

"Come on, I think we should get back to the cabin before Luke sends out a search party to find us" Nick decided that moving around and actually doing something was better for us in that moment. I wanted to laugh and point out that Luke truly was going to send out a search party, the game proved that possibility quite well, but Nick was unaware of my future seeing abilities just yet. With an internal sigh, I put that joke away in my mind, standing up instead to show Nick that I was about as ready as one could be. "Do you want to give your fire axe to me in the meantime? You should still let your arm rest, and I don't really have a close combat weapon beyond my rifle"

"You guys really need to invest in melee weapons" I scoffed and rolled my eyes in an exaggerated manner, but I was serious in the fact that I didn't understand why they had them yet. Considering the fact I was relying on Nick as it was to get back to the cabin, I slipped the axe out of the holster on my back and handed it to him. At the very least, I still had a pistol that I could use one handed if the worst were to come around.

"Wow, that's actually heavier than I expected" Nick remarked softly once he held the sturdy weapon within his hands, which just told him about how strong my muscles actually were by that point. "I hope your arm recovers soon, I'd love to see you use this yourself"

"It'll certainly be a sight to behold" I cheekily informed him, bumping my shoulder on my good side against him to further emphasise my point. He just chuckled softly, before opening the door to the shed.

All of the walkers had wandered off in the meantime, as the quiet talking inside the shed was nowhere near enough to warrant them barraging against the door. The game had always exaggerated how much walkers reacted to noise, that the relative calm nature in the actual world seemed almost like a joke in contrast. In the game, simply sneezing could be a recipe for disaster in the scripted events, while in the world that I had been transported you were fine to fire a weapon such as a gun as long as you got away fast enough.

"Do you think we should head back to the river crossing and go over it again before heading back along the main road to the cabin?" I asked Nick, as that was the main way back that I could immediately think of. Plus, the idea of tromping through the woods in the dark didn't sound like a good plan.

"I don't think that's a good idea, because we might step on more walkers when we have to walk through the river again" Nick worried his bottom lip with his teeth slightly as he thought about what was wisdom for us. His eyes glanced toward my left arm, spelling out that he had a good reason for now wanting to wade through a potentially infected river anyway. "I think there's a bridge about three miles that way downstream, so we should be able to cross much safer over there"

"...Remind me how much a mile is again? I know both Americans and British people use Miles, but my schools taught me kilometres and I've never really understood the imperial system" I laughed the moment Nick looked really confused again, his brain trying to convert the units in his head. But like I didn't understand the conversions from imperial to metric, it seemed as if he didn't know how much a mile would mean in kilometres.

"Uh... I don't know. All I know is that we should be able to reach the bridge in about an hour" Nick gave up after a while on actually figuring out the maths behind it, which I giggled softly at. After all, the walking corpses and scavengers around us were likely far more important than figuring out how many numbers were in another number. "You know what, we should just stop using miles and kilometres in this new world. We should just use time now; the amount of time it takes to reach some place"

"Some people will end up starting up the argument of miles versus kilometres sometime in the future, but it certainly won't be us" I happily agreed with that sentiment, linking my right hand into his elbow again before we started to walk in the direction that he had gestured toward. When I glanced upward to the sky, I noticed quite easily that it wasn't simple to tell how much daylight we had remaining before night arrived... But another thing happened with the sky unexpectedly.

Nick happened to glance up once he saw my particular interest in the sky, where the same old phenomena was occurring that I could remember from two years prior in that world. It was like a stone had been skipped across the surface of a pond, the sky (or possibly just the clouds, it was hard to tell with how blanketed it was) swirling and dipping in impossible combinations. When the spasming of the sky seemed to settle down into its normal state, I could notice no real difference in the amount of clouds that were present in it... Instead, it seemed to look ever so slightly darker, the barest of grey permeating the typical white that covered the sky.

"What the actual hell- I mean, heck, was that?!" Nick had clearly never seen the sky shifting before, even if the clouds in the sky had been changing many times two years prior. His attempt to fix his swearing didn't slip me by, as he no doubt had figured by then that I and Carlos appreciated people using different language if they were going to be around our children. "I mean, I already knew that the weather was being weird in the sense that I haven't seen the blue sky in... Years by now, but what kind of messed up weather causes the sky to twitch?!"

I considered the options directly presented in front of me. There was the obvious and simple option of just remaining silent and giving nothing away about the sky, but there was the other side which was to give hints to Nick (like I had given to Carlos earlier that day) about what was truly going on in his world now that I was there. And if there was something that I had learned since coming to that new world, it seemed as if my ability to be daring had gone far up, was one of them.

"...Nick, how spiritual are you?" I asked him somewhat offhandedly, as I knew convincing an atheist that I had been transported to another world because of a blue comet was going to be near impossible. Then again, I was atheist myself, and I had become more accustomed to the idea of being transported another world... But that may have been for the simple reason that I had no other answer as to how I had gotten there.

"As in, do I believe in god?" Nick asked me, but I gave a shrug to keep the topic vague as to what sort of spiritual I was referring to. It seemed as if he was thinking along those lines, so I tried to figure out if he was open minded regardless of his belief (as neither side was going to be able to be convinced if they were strict that their belief was the one truth). "I'm not really sure. My mother was spiritual in the sense that she believed that magic and spiritual energy was real, but I don't know if I've really found something that I 'believe' in"

"Magic?" I admit, I got distracted the moment he had mentioned that, as it was not the typical sort of belief even in my old world.

"Yep, magic. She used to tell me stories when I went to bed about all these grand adventures that happened in other worlds, and every time I asked her if they were true, she would tell me that she did believe they were real. She still kept claiming that they were true even when I was an adult, which I didn't really understand" Nick seemed unsure what to make of those stories that his mother had told him about, but it certainly had stuck with him regardless of how viable they were to him. It wasn't just him, as it sounded like something that I would have enjoyed hearing about first hand even if his mother had no proof to back them up with. "Her favourite one was to tell me about the hero of the blue comet"

"The... The blue comet?" I asked him, nearly stumbling over my words with the realisation of what he had said. Surely... Surely the story that he had heard from his mother was not something to do with what was happening with me, right? "As in the nursery rhyme?"

"Yeah, that one" Nick confirmed that it was the exact same blue comet as the one that I had heard was a very common thing in their world. It seemed as if me asking about it caused him to think even harder about what his mother had told him, reciting some of it for me to listen to. "She would talk about this hero coming from another world because of the blue comet, who purely came here to save the denizens of our world. ’The world will alter underneath their feet, and the skies shall tremble and tear apart to usher a new age'"

...The world altering underneath my feet certainly sounded close me altering the timeline from what was supposed to happen, and the sky trembling was familiar. Not just those two, but the reason of coming to their world purely to save denizens from that world, that couldn't sound closer to my wish than if someone had literally asked me.

"It sounds weird, doesn't it? I used to love it as a kid, but I seriously doubted some parts of the story that she would tell me" Nick kept going with the explanation, clearly not worrying all that much about the somewhat startled look in my eyes. Instead, all he saw was the curiousity brimming from within me, as I wanted to hear all parts of this story. "Mum would always pointedly remind me that the hero was a girl - or at least, she was pretty certain it was a girl - because I used to instinctively call the hero a guy. Her logic was that the hero was my future wife or something like that, tapping my nose with her finger for emphasis"

"...Did she ever describe what the hero looked like?" I asked him softly, noticing even more parallels between his story and what he and I had experienced before.

"Nah, the story never went that much into detail. The most I heard was that the hero had long brown hair, and that was because of all the grand descriptions from my mum about their hair flying in the wind" Nick shrugged his shoulders with that admission, beginning to talk about another part that he found unreasonable before the lightbulb began to slowly flicker on in his mind. "But honestly, how could the hero be my future wife? For that to even happen, they'd need to be into me, and..."

Nick trailed off his sentence, the gears in his mind finally turning in the right ways to fit all of the pieces of the puzzle together. After the mention of the hero having to be into Nick in the first place, his eyes shifted slowly to look over toward me, as I certainly had made it known that I was into him. Even in the rapidly dying light, my long chestnut waves were plainly obvious to him, and he knew at least two previous times in his head that I had purposefully tapped his nose after he did something that I found cute.

"...What the hell" Nick softly uttered underneath his breath, either finally believing his mother or thinking that he had run into the most convenient coincidence to explain the story. But if there was something _else_ that I had learned from that world, was that coincidences were extremely unlikely to happen. Thanking his mother silently in my mind for opening up his mind to potential differences in the world, I decided to make the leap to tell him about why I was there.

"Nick, if I were to say that I knew what was up with the sky, what would you say?" I asked him, taking particular care to keep an eye on our surroundings as we paused for a moment in a clearing in those woods. It wouldn't do to get killed by a walker sneaking up on us during such an important discussion after all, that would just be embarrassing.

"Frankly, I normally would say that you're completely insane" Nick bluntly told me that, and I nodded my head simply. After all, it still wasn't exactly the most normal thing to believe in, if your name wasn't Chuck or Omid.

"That's fair" I responded, as it would likely be my response as well if our roles were reversed. Nick did make sure to hold his hand up to halt my thinking process before I assumed the worst, so I obediently shut my mouth and waited to hear what he was going to say.

"But considering what my mother had told me from the moment that I was old enough to register stories, then... I don't know, maybe there is some merit to what you're saying" Nick admitted that he was giving me the benefit of the doubt considering what he knew, which was another thing that made me silently thank his mother.

"You believe your mother's story?" I asked him out of curiosity by that point, but the response was not as absolute as I had expected from him.

"Honestly, I'm still not sure. For all I know, all it might mean is that you _and_ my mother are absolutely insane in the membrane" Nick simultaneously sighed and shrugged his shoulders, showing that he still couldn't make head or tails from our collective stories and claims to him. It certainly seemed to hurt him emotionally to think of his recently deceased mother as mad, and hopefully he also wanted to believe me considering how kind I had been to him so far. "Usually I would operate under the assumption that you have to bring me proof before I would believe you, kind of like the court system's 'innocent until proven guilty'. But... Well, I'm switching that around right now"

"You're believing me until there is proof that I am lying" I half stated and half asked him that, and he nodded his head firmly to show that I had gotten the meaning behind his words perfectly. Even if it could be interpreted as a tenuous alliance by some people, I was absolutely over the moon by hearing that he trusted me. "...Thank you Nick, that means a lot to me"

"I mean, surely the chances of you both being wrong are quite low, especially the already weird things with the sky are going on" Nick gestured up to the sky above his head, but I wasn't all that concerned with what kind of reasoning he had used to get there. I hugged him softly, and he laughed softly before patting my shoulder in an affectionate gesture. By the time I had let go, he started to move ahead with me once again toward the bridge he had mentioned before, which I was grateful for. Being inside the nice warm cabin was going to be far better than standing outside in the cold with the walkers, no matter what we were going to be talking about. "So, what _is_ actually up with the weather?"

"For each person I save from a grisly death, the sky seems to wobble" I put it simply, as I knew that delving into how I knew they were going to die was going to be another hurdle. "I don't know why the clouds get larger each time I do it - or as it happened just now, the clouds got darker - but it does"

"And how do you know they are going to die a grisly death?" Nick skipped straight past the part which I had assumed that he was going to ask me about, completely ignoring the implication that someone _was_ going to die and instead focusing on _how_ I knew that. I internally sighed, but decided that truth was the best policy by that point.

"Your world exists as a video game in my old world" I took the plunge, and the disbelief was immediate on Nick's face. Even as we remained linked, he raised an eyebrow and waited for me to possibly change my answer, but there wasn't going to be a different answer waiting for him no matter how long he was going to wait. "Nick, if I was lying by this point, don't you think I'd find a far more believable lie?"

"...Yeah, you would be" Nick did admit that what I was saying had some merit, but he still wasn't entirely convinced. It wasn't that bad, as at the very least he was giving me the benefit of the doubt with all of this. "Let's keep this between ourselves for now, I'm not sure how receptive the others in the group would be inclined to believe you if you told them the very same thing"

"Clementine and Duck already know, but I can completely understand the scepticism on telling the others" I knew full well the dangers of telling the others too early, but it just meant that I had another person who would believe me when the time came to reveal it all. I just now had to introduce much more instances that I knew things beyond normal in this world, and the odds of me being able to save the cabin group would soar to new heights.


	11. Lurking in the Shadows

Not much further we could hear the river bubbling on our left, following it as we headed towards the bridge that he had previously mentioned. Since the sun had gone down and left us in utter darkness, our discussions and talking had completely dropped, instead keeping our ears keenly open and aware for any walkers stumbling around in the dark. Luckily the lack of light wasn't as bad as we had thought it would be, our eyes becoming accustomed to the gradual night, making us completely aware of everything around us.

Us getting used to the night was likely why we could spot some small flickers of light through the brush ahead of us. Nick and I glanced at each other, likely wondering if the people ahead of us were nothing more than our friends from the Cabin group coming to find us, or if it happened to be Pete with Duck and Sam. It was obviously strong enough to be manmade, so the only question that remained was if the people who had made it were friendly.

"From the way it is flickering, I'd say it's some kind of fire rather than a torch" I whispered to Nick beside me, who nodded his head in agreement. This wasn't a scripted event in the game however, as the game developers had never truly shown Clementine's struggle to get back to the cabin (regardless of who she had decided to go with at the literal split at the river), so being able to recall from memory if it would be safe was impossible. "I don't know if they are friendly, I never encountered this situation in the game"

"Assume hostiles" Nick kept his instructions brief, before the both of us unlinked arms from each other and warily approached the flickering light in the distance.

The new people in the distance happened to be located on a road cutting through the middle of the forest, and just a bit to their left was the bridge that Nick had previously mentioned as a way to cross the river. While the harsh glow of the campfire that these guys had created made it difficult to discern who they were, the large and obvious truck that they had parked beside them spelled out that it most certainly was _not_ our friends. In fact, if the combination of the truck and the ominous way that the people seemed to move was anything to go by, I had a heavy suspicion on who I guessed it to be.

"Did you find anything on those people by the river to spell out if Rebecca and the others are in the area?" The familiar gravelly deep voice was already a tell-tale sign of who it was supposed to be, but the intimidating figure he posed as well as the fur lined hoodie spelled out that the man talking _had_ to be William Carver.

"No sir, they were just some people who had decided to steal some of our supplies" Another voice spoke up, and again my memory of the game helped out in recognising the voice. It seemed to be Troy, which wasn't all that surprising considering the fact he was Carver's right hand man in all of his stupid endeavours.

I wasn't the only one to recognise the voices, as Nick hurriedly pressed himself against a tree to try and stay hidden from view, which I copied him to make sure that we would both be able to sneak around the group. Heading back to the river crossing would take us far too long (and it still was as dangerous as before, especially so because of the night), and there was the worry in my mind that Carver would go toward the cabin and surprise Clementine like he had done in the game... With that possibility only coming to worse outcomes in my mind.

Not only was Clementine no longer controlled by the player (i.e. myself), but there was a chance that Carver was going to be nowhere near as forgiving to her as the game had planned him to. That, or there was the even worse possibility of Carver arriving to the cabin... Only to have the door opened by someone such as Luke because he was expecting Nick and I. No matter how I thought about it, we needed to get to the cabin, and we needed to do so _fast._

I carefully gestured to Nick for us to start slipping in between the trees toward our left, in a way where we might have been able to sneak over the bridge. I had to repeat it at least once before he understood what I was asking him to do, and he did as I asked, slipping over to the next tree and pressed himself against it before anyone could notice him. We had the element of camouflage and surprise on our side, as the people in the camp didn't know we were there and usually would not peer so hard at the trees and brush overlooking their camp. However, that didn't make us invisible, as noted by the fact that somebody seemed to barely see me as I followed after Nick and pressed myself against the tree beside him.

"...Did you see that?" A horrifying realisation came when it seemed like the person who had noticed me was the exact person I had hoped was looking away at the time; Carver.

"No sir, what did you see?" Troy asked him, but there was no response from Carver. Instead, there was the steadily increasing volume of footsteps, sounding as if the person they belonged to was coming closer to me.

Due to the tree being a much smaller one than the other one we were hiding behind, it meant that it was rounded just enough that I could barely see Carver approaching me... And because of that, he likely could just barely see me as well. Carver came to a halt just a little bit away from the tree, but he didn't seem to order his troops to come over and capture me.

Only when I allowed my gaze to relax a little did my peripheral vision tell me that there was a bunch of low hanging leaves from a branch half hiding my face. As well, like the light of his fire made it difficult for us to see all of them clearly, it also meant that _their_ eyes were not accustomed to the dark; which meant that he was having difficulty seeing me even more.

Even with the danger of randomly sticking your hand out in the dark if you weren't sure of what was there, Carver started to hold out his hand to move the low hanging branch out of the way. But as if the universe was looking out for me in that moment, the dead seemed to come along at the right time to help me out.

"Carver, lurkers are approaching!" I heard someone who sounded like Bonnie call out for Carver, which made the man turn his head back to his group of marauders. With his head turned away, I silently tiptoed away from my spot on the tree, instead shuffling along the tree until I was pressed tight against Nick's chest; the both of us being diagonally hidden from him.

"Just a second!" Carver called back to Bonnie, before he turned around and finally moved the low hanging branch. By that point in time I had already moved over to Nick, so all he found was bare bark behind it. If I was even luckier, then perhaps he had mistaken my chestnut hair for an odd shade of the tree's natural brown. He remained rooted on the spot for a while longer, possibly waiting to hear or see if anyone moved in the meantime, before he seemed to accept that he hadn't seen anyone. "...Alright, let's relocate. I'd rather not waste bullets on the dead"

While the rest of his group started to deliberate on where they were going to be heading, the moment Carver moved away from us Nick and I took our chances to beat a hasty retreat. Continuing to shuffle along the trees towards our left (while remaining pressed to each other, we learnt our mistake by then that trying to fit side by side on a thin tree wasn't enough to hide us), the truck that Carver's group were travelling in eventually turned on. It seemed clear that the bridge was far too small to support the weight of the truck that they were all travelling in, so they returned the way they came to find an alternative route.

Once the truck had rumbled far enough away (taking several walkers with it because of its engines noise), Nick and I were completely free to cross over the bridge without a single person stopping us. The absolute sheer panic from being nearly discovered caused the both of us to run like madmen through the woods like when we were looking for the shed, further exacerbated by the fact that Nick was still intensely holding me close to him like we were going to be discovered again. Only when we had expended some of our energy in running through the woods did we dare to slow down, our frazzled breathing coming more down to the terror in our veins rather than the actual use of our energy.

"...Did you know who that was?" Nick asked me, as he couldn't be completely sure that I knew of Carver's existence from the game. After all, for all he knew I had only encountered his group for a brief moment in the game before saying goodbye. I nodded wordlessly, my own mind swimming with far too familiar memories of two years prior when we had gotten ambushed suddenly by scavengers. Just like that, I nearly lost Nick in a similar fashion as to how I had lost the first season group. "...Yeah, he's bad news. We need to get back to the cabin and leave"

"He's going to reappear at the cabin later" I sounded like some ominous old lady who foretold death and destruction for the future, with the only exception being that Nick did believe what I was saying. "Carver is coming after Rebecca, and if things go exactly as the game did, then he's going to get us"

"...Shit. In that case, what can we even do?" Nick became worried by the fact that he was now aware of a ticking time bomb being placed above our heads, spelling out that I needed to have a better plan in mind than just naively following the game as I had done in the previous season.

"There is a ski lodge further North from here in the game where we encounter him once again. If we prepare ourselves properly, then we can end him there before anyone gets hurt" I started to mutter aloud on what I was planning to do, as the ski lodge presented a very strong chance to kill Carver before his group could even remotely capture us. After all, the fact that Carver survived the ski lodge mainly came down to the plot armour that the writers had given him. In this new universe, there was no such thing as someone being impossible to kill (I had discovered that a number of times myself after all), and I was planning on using that to my advantage. "I'm planning on putting a bullet within his skull, and that place will be perfect to pull that off"

"Did he wrong you too?" Nick asked, as he couldn't have known the people he killed (or the deaths he had indirectly caused). I simply nodded, deciding that he didn't need to know about the long list of tragedies, just what he could do to prevent them. "Whatever happens, I'm with you"

"Thank you Nick" I was completely true to myself in my gratitude of his promise, the both of us still moving along at a fast pace to reach the cabin in time. With a plan now in mind, it meant that we had a far better chance of taking care of things. Also, keeping course toward the ski lodge would mean that we could save Matthew, Walter and Sarita, if nothing else. "Uh... You do know that you don't have to keep your hands around my waist anymore though. We can hold hands if it reassures you, and will mean that we're less likely to trip over one another as we're moving"

"Sorry, I just... I really got worried back there, so I unconsciously just wanted to make sure you were close" Nick eventually managed to peel his arm away from my waist (a thing he had done when I had pressed against him at the tree, so he likely was doing it out of habit), slipping his hand into my right one instead. It only served to warm my heart, making my desire to protect him feel completely validated. "Come on, let's get back to the cabin"

Unlike the game, where the moment we got back to the cabin it was practically daylight, it was still relatively dark in the real world. There were no lights visible inside the cabin, so I hoped that it was nothing more than the fact that everyone had gone to sleep (possibly beyond Carlos being awake due to his insomnia).

"The doors are locked" I wasn't all that surprised that we discovered as a duo that the doors had been locked in our absence, because frankly I would have yelled at the cabin group for their naivety had they not. It did mean however that we either had the option of sneaking in via another way or attempting to bang down the door until someone opened it for us. While the latter sounded hilarious in thought, it would only serve to make walkers (and possibly other unscrupulous sorts) toward us.

"Here, come this way. I know another way in" Nick guided me toward the planks near the underside of the cabin, which gave me strong flashbacks to the time I had to sneak in when I was playing as Clementine. "We had originally built these to keep walkers out from crawling underneath the cabin, but Pete and I altered it slightly so that it could act as a secondary entrance and emergency exit if we needed to use it"

It certainly had been altered, because Nick only needed to remove a hidden latch to move the plank of wood aside compared to the nails that would have to be yanked out in the game.

"I'd say ladies first, but I do kind of need to go first to guide us, so..." Nick seemed apologetic for not letting me go through it first, but I just ended up smiling at his gentlemanly nature. After he crawled inside, I followed directly after him and placed the wooden plank (and the hidden latch) back in their correct positions before following after him. The notable difference was the fact that the crawlspace was far smaller in the game than in the universe, so it meant that we truly had to _crawl_ through it rather than simply crouching. "There's a trap door here, it leads into the bottom floor of the cabin"

He tried to push on the trap door, but it seemed to only lift a small amount before the bolt on the other side of the door stopped his advance. It seemed as if the rule of locking the cabin applied to the trap door as well as the other doors, as Nick grumbled when he realised that we weren't going to be getting in without using force.

"Ah, of course, Luke had locked it to prevent people from sneaking in during the night" Nick grumbled, which I laughed at softly because of the ironic circumstances of us doing exactly what it was protecting from. "Hold on, I think the bolt is quite weak, so I should be able to break it to get in"

"I certainly do know how to lock pick, but breaking and entering is a new thing for me" It felt like I was channelling some of Glenn's old energy at that moment in time, as I could imagine him making a similar remark if he were in the situation. Like Glenn's attitude often had cheered me up in the past, it seemed to work on improving Nick's mood as well; him snickering quietly to himself.

"Hush, I need to concentrate" Nick light-heartedly told me off, and even though I felt that he would have been fine even if I had continued to talk, I decided to do him that favour by closing my mouth and watching him. He decided to turn around and lay on his back beneath the trap door to get the most leverage, placing my fire axe in the wedge between the door and the edge of it, before sharply kicking the axe to break the bolt on the trap door. With a heavy _chink,_ the bolt seemed to snap in half, which allowed us entrance. "Alright, let's get inside"

The trap door opened easily to let us in, and it was even easier to clamber inside the cabin when Nick turned around and offered me a hand. I took it to help lift me up, and his muscly forearms and biceps did most of the work for me.

When we moved out of the trap door room into the living room, it certainly seemed to be eerily quiet. Nick moved off to his and Pete's room to search for his Uncle first, while I looked for the most likely person to be awake at that time of night. I guessed Carlos to be the only one awake out of the people in the cabin, so I moved into the kitchen to find him... Only to not see him there either.

What was there in place of him was a note left behind on the dining table, which I decided to peruse before investigating the cabin further.

_Nick, Prim, if either of you (or hopefully both) make it home before we are back from going to look for you, then PLEASE stay at the cabin and wait for us to return._

_Everyone (yes, also Sarah. Carlos didn't want to leave her here on her own, and Clementine was adamant that she wasn't going to stay behind if her mother was in danger) here decided to go out in a search party after Pete, Sam and Duck came back and told us what happened at the river, and we're returning after a day if we find no trace of you guys._

_Please stay safe until we find you._

_Luke._

"Did you find anyone?" Nick asked me, finally entering the kitchen after he explored some other places on the first floor of the cabin. "Pete wasn't in his room, and I'm starting to get worried"

"They went out looking for us" I handed the note to him as I said that, realising that we had accidentally managed to play a game of ring-around-the-rosie with each other, them going to look for us while we had returned home to look for them. Nick looked extremely worried with the fact that we had missed the cabin group (possibly even just by a couple of minutes, if we were unlucky), but there wasn't much I could say to reassure him about that fact. "The least we can do is wait for them here, we'll avoid doing the same circular thing and missing each other again"

"...Yeah, I guess" Nick's tone still screamed that he was worried about his Uncle and best friend, just as much as I was worried about the safety of Clementine and Duck. There was another part of my mind that was worried about Pete's fate, as I hadn't managed to see him make it back to the cabin safe beyond the note. Sure, the clouds had darkened, but that wasn't a sure proof that he was fine (something that sadly could only be proven when I saw him personally). In order to calm my own mind and his, I gently enveloped him in a hug, knowing that the best thing we could do was wait. "Thanks Prim"

"Let's get some sleep at least, we'll take turns keeping watch" I suggested that, because we had already lost a lot of sleep that night as it was. Nick quietly mumbled his agreement, before following me to the more reassuring presence of sleep. We quickly made sure to cover the trap door with something heavy so that we wouldn't be surprised in the middle of the night.

We decided to sleep in the same room as one another, as keeping watch of each other was going to be impossible if we were in differing parts of the cabin. I insisted that I wanted to sleep in the room that I had the previous night, as the idea of being on the lower floor near one of the front entrances freaked me out (images of someone attempting to break through them or throwing in a Molotov cocktail were plenty in supply), and Nick agreed once he collected a watch from the lower floor to give himself some comfort.

Sleeping that night was difficult, even when it wasn't our turn to keep watch. The worry that we would have to make the decision to leave just with the both of us if the others didn't return in time didn't sit well with me. And if the worry evident on Nick's face when he slept was anything to go by, then he felt a similar feeling to me. Even so, we both did our best to let the mistress of the night lull us into slumber.


	12. Who's there?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please consider supporting me on Ko-fi! https://ko-fi.com/destinyxdarkness

The sunrise woke me up as usual, especially considering the fact that I had been the first one to keep watch during the night before I woke up Nick. As such, I was a little worried when I glanced over in the bed and couldn't spot Nick there. That feeling of worry was especially made worse when my nose detected some vague hints of smoke in the air.

I was about to leap out of bed and head downstairs, when the door to the room opened slowly, with Nick reappearing with two plates of food in his hands.

"Oh, good morning" Nick greeted me, obviously half expecting me to still be asleep when he returned. I mumbled a morning greeting in return, but I was mainly shifting my head slightly so that I could peer at what was on those plates. The smell of smoke that I had detected seemed to be coming from pieces of fish that had been both smoked and salted to allow them to remain good for longer. Along with the smoked fish seemed to be some... Rudimentary bread, something that I hadn't seen in a very long time. "Sorry for slipping out, but I thought you would be hungry"

"Starving" I agreed with his guess of my state of nutrition, eyeing the food greedily. Despite the fact my mother would have had a conniption had she caught me eating on a bed in the past, I quite happily accepted the plate that Nick held out towards me. I did my best to not completely scarf the food, chewing thoroughly through the combination of flavours. "It's been years since I've had bread"

"You can thank Alvin for that; it was his idea to snag a bag of flour and make some" Nick informed me that it was his plans that had brought about it, which I smiled at. In the purest forms of things, this Cabin group truly was just working on surviving while enjoying life.

We were only about halfway through our breakfast when the sound of knocking broke through our eating. I froze, my mind linking the knocking to two possibilities.

"...Do you guys have keys to this cabin by any chance?" I asked Nick, as there would have been the remote option that it could have been Luke and the others returning to the cabin, and being unable to come inside because of everything being locked. After all, they couldn't use the same method of sneaking in through the trap door, Nick and I had covered that with sturdy boxes the night before.

"We do; around two sets" Nick blew that possibility out of the water, as I couldn't imagine Luke knocking on the door if he had a way to get back inside. "Even if Pete had lost his when we left yesterday, I can't imagine that Carlos would have let Luke leave without his set"

That meant that the most likely possibility was that Carver was knocking on the door. I considered just telling Nick to hide with me somewhere in the cabin until he went away... But that sounded bad for two possible reasons. If Carver was ignored for long enough, then there was the possibility that he would leave and return with the rest of his cronies, which sounded far worse while we were still waiting for Luke and the others to come back. And even if there was the remotest of chances that it was our friends, then I needed to check.

"Nick, find somewhere to hide in the cabin while I check who that is" I told him, as the chances that Carver would recognise me from the night before were quite low. Meanwhile, Nick going to answer the door would be akin to sending him to his death. "It's either going to be Carver, or it is going to be Luke. If you hear me arguing with someone, then it's bound to be Carver"

"Wait, no! You can't seriously be telling me to hide while you confront Carver!" Nick protested that idea, grabbing onto my right wrist before I could open the door leading to the living room. I hushed him, as I was worried that whoever was at the door would be able to hear him with how loud he was being, and luckily Nick seemed to understand what I was implying. "...Sorry. But seriously, I'm not going to let you get hurt like this"

"I'm going to be carrying my fire axe and my rifle in plain view" I knew that while Carver was considered to be a madman, he was not stupid. There was no way that he would attempt to shoot me through the door, especially if he didn't know what kind of other weapons I would be carrying... And frankly, I was quite confident that my reaction time (from how many video games I played and my proficiency with guns by then) would be faster than Carver's. "He'd be an idiot if he tried anything with me"

"...Well, nobody was implying that he was smart" Nick huffed a little, still not liking the idea, but I gave him a gentle shove to tell him to get to hiding before something went wrong.

After I collected my weapons the both of us tiptoed downstairs, Nick sneaking off to the kitchen to hide somewhere in there. It was a decently good place to hide, as the main place that Carver would be searching would be the living room and the bedroom upstairs if he was anything like his game counterpart. Even through the tinted stained glass, I could make out a shape that resembled Carver more than it did Luke. So even as my hands moved to open the locked door, I jammed my foot right in front of the door so that it couldn't open that far.

"Hello there" Carver greeted me, but I couldn't hear his friendly tone as anything else than slimy. "Are you home alone right now?"

"No, my children are sleeping upstairs" I blatantly lied, as I couldn't imagine him asking that question as typical small talk. I could see him raising an eyebrow at my reasoning, no doubt thinking that it was a lie because I looked quite young to have multiple kids. "They aren't blood related, I adopted them"

"Ah, I see. It certainly falls on the strong to lead and take care of the weaker people in this new troubling time" Carver was still clearly delusional about his beliefs of being a dictator, so I purposefully decided to remain silent in response to that remark. He seemed to take note of my silence, looking over my frowning face. Regardless of me seeming less than pleased to see him, that condescending smirk never seemed to leave his face. "You wouldn't have happened to notice a large group of people coming through here lately, would you?"

"I did notice a group of dead people at the river about that way" I pointed in the direction of where the river crossing was, him turning his head politely to stare in that direction for a brief moment. The disinterested look in his eyes seemed to say that he knew exactly why those dead people were there, and that they were not the people that he was looking for. "Maybe they are the people you are looking for?"

"Hmm... If they are, there isn't much sense going to look at the river if those people are dead. After all, I'm hoping to find my group of people alive" He came up with a completely nonsensical reason to not check at the river, but I wasn't going to really bother pointing out how ridiculous it sounded. He tried to peer around me to look inside the cabin that I was standing in, but I didn't want to let him in even if Nick was sufficiently hidden. "Do you mind if I look inside? Maybe they were in here before you arrived"

"No, you may not come in" I firmly denied him entrance, which was another point that seemed to make one of his eyebrows raise in a questioning manner. He even tried to gently push on the door to see whether I would budge, but my feet and hands on the doors resisted his pushing. "I don't trust strangers to enter my living accommodations, especially considering how vulnerable my children can be around strangers"

My reasoning seemed to completely fly by his head, him instead staring directly at my face. It was when his eyes seemed to concentrate on my hair that warning signals went off in my head.

"You know, I don't know many women nowadays who have the courage to wear their hair long anymore. At least, not in a ponytail or bun" Carver pointed out how unusual it was to find with someone with my long hair, but the truly terrifying mention came when he said his next words. "It makes it very... Recognisable"

"Does it now?" Despite the growing anxiety in my gut, I strongly combated his words with my own, refusing to let him win even if it was just in the verbal sense. "I've been told that my brown hair is quite plain"

"Perhaps, but it certainly seems to match the description of a monster" I was confused with his reference, as I didn't know what that was supposed to mean in reference to myself. Monster... The only times in the past that anyone had given me that description was myself, back two years prior when I had handled John. "I once met an insane man. He was dragging himself through the crowds of the dead, ranting and raving about some monster with long brown hair who had purposefully infected him with the blood and guts of their fallen enemies"

...It wasn't possible. What kind of coincidences would have had to have cropped up for Carver to have met John in the final moments of the latter's life? And if he truly had met John, just how much had he heard from him while he was still somewhat lucid in his dying moments?

Even if Carver hadn't quite made the connection that I was the person in the woods the night before, it didn't seem to matter; as he had managed to get the right set of information for him to be an even bigger threat than I had originally planned for. And because there was no possible way for me to have predicted that they could have met, the slight surprise would have been easily noticeable on my face... Which he could spot a mile away, with that same condescending smirk present on his face.

"You have a good day now" He managed to get the final say in the matter, giving up on trying to enter the cabin, instead turning around, walking down the stairs of the porch and off into the distance. It was far too late to yell some sort of obscenity at him, or to tell him to never return again; neither point felt like it would have helped anything. Truly, in that moment in time (as the game often reminded players), silence was the best option.

The moment Carver was well and truly gone; I shut the door and locked it, feeling like I had just been drained off all of my adrenaline long before the day was over. The feeling of being completely alone with the cabin was making the anxiety grow, so my first task seemed to be finding Nick.

When I entered the kitchen, there wasn't a single place that I could actually believe would house Nick. All of the cabinets and drawers would be far too small for him, and it was clear that he wouldn't hide in a nonsensical place such as underneath the dining room table.

"...Nick?" I quietly called out for him, as the fear of being alone outshone my curiousity to look for him. The moment I called out for him, I got surprised by the fridge opening from the inside out, Nick crawling out without a single scratch or bruise on him. "Wait, you hid inside the fridge?"

"It wasn't working anyway, and we had removed the racks to use for other things" Nick explained why he would be able to fit in the old construct, but I supposed that it was a secondary thing to learn about. The moment he was out and available, I moved forward to hug him, worriedly holding him close. The tight grip I had around his shoulders told him that something weird must have happened, his following words being comforting. "Hey, you okay? I know Carver is frightening to me, but it didn't sound like he got that mad at you"

"He knows about me" My speech once again sounded like it was devolving into a doomsday prophecy, Nick gently peeling me off him so that we could understand each other better.

"What do you mean 'he knows about' you?" Nick asked me that, as it sounded completely insane to believe in someone who came from another world who could see the future. Nick trusting in me was an oddity itself, but Carver was another thing entirely.

"He was talking about someone who I had... Well, who I had gotten killed two years ago. That person had also learned about my future reading ability due to listening in on my old group's conversations, and Carver just mentioned something that sounded suspiciously like he had met that man" It sounded a lot like gibberish when I spoke out loud, but Nick seemed to understand what I was implying. "Carver knows about my future reading abilities, which means that killing him is going to be that much harder"

I let out a harrowed sigh, the worry being obvious in the recesses of my mind. I knew that there was the higher chance of losing people if I deviated from the game's narrative, but following the game came with its own difficulties in the fact that people predisposed to survive in the original would not be guaranteed to survive this time around. 

Nick didn't bother saying anything, as he knew there wasn't much that he could do besides providing support. He could listen to me and follow what I said to a ’t’, but that wouldn't mean anything if Carver (or the universe) altered themselves in a way that my attempts to change the timeline would be all for naught.

Right as he wrapped me up in his own arms to rekindle the hug we were sharing before, the noise of a key turning in a lock startled us both into pulling apart. The door leading to the outside of the cabin turned its knob and opened, showing all members of the cabin group safe and sound.

"Luke!" As he was the first one I could reach, I ran forward and threw my arms around the machete wielding young man, nearly knocking him off balance. He seemed to take it quite happily in his stride, laughing softly as he brought a single hand around me to hug me back.

"Good to see you too Prim" Luke happily hoisted me up a little bit and walked into the cabin with me still attached to him, in order to make room for the others to come in. Clementine made a noise that sounded close to gagging at my excitement at seeing him, which made me make a mental note to check in on her later. She really was becoming quite grossed out with any sort of romantic interest coming from me (or directed _at_ me from someone else), and I wanted to figure out where that was coming from simply because I did still care about what she thought. "We were trying to act as your heroic knights in shining armour, but it seems that you and Nick didn't need us to save you"

"It's the thought that counts" I giggled, allowing him to gently lower me back down onto the kitchen floor to look over everyone returning back home. Except for Sam and Carlos, everyone looked quite tired, showing that they had kept searching throughout the entire night. I guess it was a good thing that Nick and I had actually gotten some sleep, as everyone else looked like they could use an afternoon nap once we were a good distance away from the cabin.

"Uncle Pete, god..." Nick was ever so happy to see his Uncle was alright, the older man also looking relieved that the other managed to survive. "I... I just-

"Come here, Nick" Pete didn't care about hearing apologies about getting mad at other people, just skipping straight to the part where they hugged each other. It seemed as if my attempts to talk to both men had made them realise that the other truly did care about them, the cracks in their relationship starting to slowly mend themselves. "I'm so glad to see you unharmed"

"...Yeah, me too" Nick admittedly that softly, him getting used to his Uncle slowly changing into the supportive father figure that he had always wanted out of him.

"Where did you guys even go?" Alvin didn't understand how we had managed to miss each other, as they no doubt had taken the same route to the river as we had early on the day before.

"We had to take an alternative route, because it was unsafe for Prim to go trawling through a river" Nick explained, gently removing himself from Pete, instead lifting up my left arm to emphasise what he was referring to. "I don't know if people can get second hand infections from water that has had lurkers in it, but we didn't want to take that risk"

"Ah, of course" Carlos lightly slapped his forehead, obviously thinking that it should have been something that he would have thought of as well. Sarah was closely attached to his hip, but she did spare me a smile when I waved at her. I supposed it was the first time she had ever laid eyes on me (in that universe), so I was glad to see that she wasn't shy around me. "You guys probably went to a crossing or bridge that wouldn't get you wet"

"I'm sorry to interrupt the relaxed conversations passing between everyone, but we really need to go" I cut the pleasantries short, as while I was ecstatic to see them alive, I was going to feel far more comfortable the further we were away from Carver and his group of hunters coming after us. "Carver came here only a couple of minutes ago"

"Carver?!" Rebecca was naturally one of the more worried people at the thought of that man being only a day (or even as little as a couple of hours) away from us, when the next natural thought crossed her mind. "Wait, how do you even know about him?!"

"I told her" Nick took the blame for me, taking most of the edge off me, as I no longer had to worry about lying on how I knew him. He could already see the thoughts flitting through his fellow group members minds, wondering why he would have had a good reason to tell me, and we had another excuse on our side from the close call in the woods. "Even if he hadn't appeared right at our front door and she shooed him away, we almost got caught by him last night when we were sneaking back over a bridge on our way back"

"You talked to him?" Carlos asked me, but his tone was nowhere near as accusatory as it would have been in the game. Instead, he seemed apologetic; sorry that I had to do so. I nodded my head, and I once again didn't need to lie as nobody seemed to find it all that important to know the nitty-gritty details about what Carver and I had talked about. "Do you think he knew we were here?"

"He didn't see Nick, but I don't think he believed me when I lied and said that you guys weren't here" I told them the truth on that part, as it was frankly the only possible conclusion that I could think of. Even if he had only talked about how he had recognised me from my reputation, it likely was unsafe to remain there anyway. "I didn't let him in, but I think that is exactly why he might be coming back later"

"Of course, people would be suspicious that you would be hiding something if you flat out refused to let them in" Luke could see where I was coming from in reference to that, him and Carlos looking at each other. Without words, they seemed to agree that leaving was going to be the better option no matter what. All of the other adults started to quietly gather things up, but Luke turned to me instead. "I know that you haven't been around us long Prim, but... Do you guys still want to come with us despite this?"

"Yeah, I do think that's the better option" I glanced over toward Duck, Clem and Sam, all three of which were looking at me for advice. Sam would just willingly follow us wherever we went, but Duck and Clem were important enough that their thoughts were taken into account. Even though Clem wasn't that impressed with some of the romantic interactions, she still understood that I really cared about these people, so both she and Duck gave their permission for me to make that decision for them. "Frankly, Carver was extremely creepy. Not to mention, the four of us enjoy being around you guys"

Nick already knew that I was going to answer in the positive, but Luke's brilliant smile was entirely based on the fact that he was pleased that we were coming along. With everyone now fully preparing themselves to go, we only had to pack for around ten minutes before we were all underway to our new destination. I was included in the conversation about which way we were going to be heading, and I subtly included a new direction that they hadn't thought about before. And so, we started to walk in the direction of the ski lodge.


	13. The Circle of Life

The following day, when I was a little more relaxed that we wouldn't be caught up to so quickly, I helped hand out food for the lunch that day alongside Carlos. Of course that meant that he and I looked quite intently at the amount of supplies that we had... And we were running low.

"We're going to have to do some hunting or fishing today" Carlos announced that to everyone, leaving me for a couple of seconds to count over how much we could still work with. There certainly was the option of rationing food more strictly among our group (I had learned that from Lilly after all), but that would in turn mean that certain people would have less energy than others... And it wouldn't be fair to withhold food from Rebecca, lest it negatively affect her baby. "We only have enough food for three more days, and I would like to have much more"

"Prim and I can head out to see if we can hunt anything" Nick immediately offered to go out on an excursion with me, and in any other situation I would have been perfectly fine to go with him. It seemed that other people in our group disagreed however, so it wasn't as simple as him being the first one to raise his hand.

"The last time you went out with her, we had to launch a search party to find you both" Rebecca pointedly reminded him, obviously thinking that his suggestion was just another case of Nick being too headstrong for his own good. Never mind the fact that we had managed to get back the cabin unharmed without their help, she was focusing on the fact that we had gotten lost in the first place.

"That wasn't something they could really help Bec, anyone would have been startled if lurkers suddenly rose up from a riverbed" Alvin was the calm voice of reason in contrast to his wife, reminding her that while Nick and I were young, it didn't mean that we were stupid. "If anything, I'd say they both did a really good job in keeping themselves safe"

I could see Nick mutter to himself that he thought that it was more than a simple 'good job', especially considering the extra problems that we had run into on our way back. Not only did we have to journey back in the dark, we also had to narrowly avoid a murderous bunch of their former community, but we also had to break back into the cabin after they had locked everything up. Altogether, he and I were clearly convinced that we went above and beyond what most others would have accomplished if they were in our shoes.

"Well, I was actually going to say that taking Nick on a hunting trip would be bad, because..." Pete began to say something in regards to Nick and his propensity for nearly shooting people in the gut, but once he started to near the punchline his voice drifted away. Several people turned their heads to him to see why he suddenly had halted in his usual ribbing of his nephew, and I could see the hesitation in his eyes. As he and I had discussed two days prior, old habits did die hard, but it seemed as if this time he had caught himself just in time. "...Actually, never mind. My joke wasn't going to be very tasteful"

Nick seemed surprised with the lack of ribbing, but it certainly seemed to morph into a pleasant form of surprise as he mulled it over.

"While Nick _can_ possibly go with Prim for hunting, I was hoping to borrow her expertise myself on such a trip" Carlos surprised everyone by essentially saying that _he_ wanted to go with me, even sending me for a bit of a loop. I mean, I wasn't going to be upset with going on a special hunting trip with him, but I hadn't expected it. Nick looked slightly put off with the news, as it meant that he and I weren’t going together (whether it was because he wanted to discuss my future reading abilities or other reasons, I was not entirely sure). "I'm hoping to teach Sarah how to use a gun, and it seems like you have some experience on teaching younger folk because of your own children"

"Oh! Yeah, I'm more than happy to help out with that" Like Nick, I was _very_ pleasantly surprised to see the divergent nature of Carlos within that new reality, as trying to teach Sarah in the game would have been akin to pulling hen's teeth. Sarah also seemed excited, her eyes gaining a bit of a spark to them at the thought of finally learning about how they worked.

"Really? Awesome!" Carlos seemed a little disheartened to see how eager his daughter was to use a weapon, in a way that reminded me quite sharply of how Katjaa had looked long ago. I could understand it as well, as when I had been in charge of teaching Duck and Clementine it had felt like I was somehow killing that childlike sense of ignorance and wonder that most children had. Then again, Sarah was fifteen, so she was ever nearing the age where she was expected to get things done. "Can Clementine come too?"

"Sure, that sounds like a good idea. Four people will help us stay safer out in the woods as well" I was never going to turn down a group of four, as after all, I was used to travelling in a group of that many people after all. Duck started to collect his rifle and weapons as well to come along with us, but I stopped him with a single hand simply because we didn't need so many people to come with us. "Sorry Duck, if you come with us then Sam will want to come as well. We don't need that many people"

"...Are you sure?" Duck seemed unsure what to make of the fact that we were going without him. At first I had guessed it to be because he didn't like the idea of being separated from us, but another reason possibly sprung to mind when he glanced toward Sarah and Clementine, who were talking to one another before they readied themselves. I assured him that we were going to be perfectly fine, and he reluctantly retracted his offer to come with us. "...Okay"

With Luke and Alvin heading in the opposite direction to see if they could find anything, the four of us set off. Even as the forest was relatively quiet, the small chatter passing between Clementine and Sarah was nice, as it reminded me of simpler times.

"Thank you for agreeing to come with me" Carlos clearly was under the impression that he had to extensively give some kind of appreciation for my decision, despite the fact that I would have jumped at the chance even if everyone else had offered to go in my place. "I know I can be a bit... Fractious"

"You think so? I actually think you're very lovely" I wasn't at all bothered by some of his built in habits, and he hadn't actually shown any signs of personality that would make me think that he was quick to anger. Carlos seemed unsure what to do with the compliment (a similarity between him and Nick, now that I realised it), finding it more unusual than a typical thing to do in the apocalypse.

"...You certainly are quite forthright with your opinions and emotions, aren't you?" He asked me that, which caused me to chuckle softly as an initial response. It was true, I wasn't known for holding back many things. After all, I could easily remember that my propensity for doing things without worrying about the consequences was exactly how the group from the first season had discovered that I wasn't 'of this world'.

"I am. One of my lovers from my old group used to say that I would be able to 'charm the pants off anyone'" I blissfully recounted one of those memories that I had stored away within my mind, trying to focus on the positives rather than the inevitable negative that came if I thought too long about it. I was so wrapped up in the memories that it took me quite a while to even realise that I had inadvertently outed myself as polyamorous to him.

"Lovers" He stated the singular word, it half being posed as a question while the other half was stating it. All I knew was that I nodded my head immediately to the word, with only a couple of seconds later realising that he didn't yet know about that fact. "As in... Multiple?"

"That would be correct" I figured it would have happened eventually, so it didn't bother me as much as I thought it would. The worst case scenario would be that he would turn into an angry Spanish version of Larry, and that would subsequently mean that I could spend much more of my attention and time on those who deserved it. Luckily for me however, he seemed to be completely blasé about it once he realised that he had gotten his guess correct. "Are you bothered by it?"

"No, I guess I was just caught off guard. My brother is... Was poly himself" Carlos had a slight slip up in terms of whether he was referring to his brother in the past tense or the present, but I had those occasional mistakes in my own speech after all. "Mind you, he was also gay, so I guess I got used to him being different much easier than other people would"

"Oh, that's pretty cool!" I was genuinely interested to hear stories about his family, especially if they included mentions of people who were on the lgbt spectrum. "How did the rest of his family end up handling that news?"

"They-

"Dad!" Sarah whispered in an excited tone, distracting us from our earlier discussion. She was kneeling just behind an overturned log alongside Clementine, and in the distance was what seemed to be a teenage buck grazing in the middle of a small section of the forest. Carlos and I slowly knelt down to the ground so that we wouldn't spook it, shuffling closer to the log to have a better shot at it. "It's so pretty"

Carlos grimaced, looking through the scope on his rifle instead of answering her on whether he agreed with her pronouncement of how beautiful it was. He likely felt bad to just turn around and tell her that we were planning on shooting and eating it, but we also knew that we couldn't afford to let it get away out of a fear of hurting nature. To help him, I decided to broach the subject first.

"Sarah, have you ever gone hunting before?" I asked her the most basic of questions to get her acquainted with the subject, and it didn't surprise me all that much when she shook her head. I likely would have given a similar answer to her when I had first landed in this strange new world, so I decided to try and bridge that gap with her by using humour. "Ah, so you're also what Nick called me; a city girl"

"Probably" Sarah giggled, as she no doubt found the name as funny as I had done. It was weird to think of ourselves as any different than those who lived in rural areas, but we admittedly had a lot less 'survival' experience than them.

"Come here, I'll teach you how to use a pistol. A rifle probably is too big of a leap for you, but my pistol is one that doesn't have a lot of recoil" I gently waved for her to shuffle closer to me, taking my pistol out of my own weapons to give to her. In the worst possible scenario, at least she would have a weapon while I still had two directly on me.

"I don't know what any of those words mean" Sarah admitted that words such as 'recoil' were too much in the terms of gun lingo for her to understand straight away, but I wasn't bothered by that. It wasn't like I was going to foist some sort of test onto her at the end of the hunting trip after all.

"That's fine, we're starting with the basics" I continued explaining smoothly to her, relaying some of the more basic safety rules to her before anything else. As I kept listing things for her to remember, I could notice out of the corner of my eye that Carlos looked extremely relieved that I had taken over for him. While he likely knew how to handle a gun, he didn't have the experience of actually teaching someone else how to use one, which told me that his expertise with the ranged weapon was more down to instinct than fine tune memory. "So, now that we have safety down, we can move on. For starters, aim at the deer"

"Wait, are we shooting it?" It seemed as if the notion of shooting the deer had slipped her by the entire time we were out there, suddenly looking a bit less confident in the idea of firing the gun. It was one thing to think that walkers were going to be the only targets, but it was another to realise that guns were often used in _all_ situations where necessary, not just to shoot monsters.

"That is the plan" I knew that lying to her would just make things worse, but I immediately supplemented my words with the reason for _why_ we were doing it, which often helped ease the transition for Clementine and Duck when they were learning. "We're not doing it to be cruel, we're getting food for everyone in the group so that nobody goes hungry. It's kind of like a wolf when they are hunting"

"...I'm not sure I want to be a wolf" Sarah began to lower her gun a little bit, and I briefly considered whether it was wise for me to correct her aiming. I decided not to in the end, as I was hoping that the power of words would end up making things clear for her. Forcing her to shoot would only make her veer hard in the opposite direction; like what Pete's ribbing inadvertently did to Nick.

"I know; it's not that nice. I'm not going to force you to do it if you don't want to, but you do need to realise that this sometimes means that our group will end up being hurt in response" I fully sat down next to her as I explained it, trying to create a mental picture within her mind so that she understood what would happen either way. "Imagine a different scenario with me for a second, okay?"

"...Okay" She raised her pistol in the direction of the deer while she whispered to me, and I honestly was wondering in the back of my mind why it hadn't left in the meantime. I considered it part of the universe throwing me another bone, and gladly took the moment to explain things to her while we had the opportunity.

"Say there is a person. They are alive, but they are threatening to hurt people in the group" I suggested a different situation, and she nodded her head to say that she was imagining the situation with me. "Now, would you shoot them?"

"I'd probably try to negotiate with them first" Sarah told me her first initial response to that situation, and I could understand it simply because it likely would have been mine before the world had ended.

"That's fair enough. But, in that particular case, they may succeed in hurting someone despite your best efforts to talk them down" It felt quite cruel to talk about such a situation to her, but it was becoming more likely to be a true scenario in that time. "No matter what decision you make in some situations, you won't feel nice about it. The only thing that you can decide on is what _you_ are going to do; deciding whether keeping your family and friends safe is worth potentially hurting someone else"

"...Sometimes, keeping your loved ones safe will hurt someone else" Clementine added on a nice addition to what I was explaining, even sounding like she was quoting Lee exactly from the flashback scene in the second season. I smiled in her direction, thankful to also have her backing up what lesson I was trying to ingrain into Sarah's mind.

Sarah was quiet for a while, thinking over what we had told her. When she raised her eyes towards the deer still ahead of us, she tried to peer down the sights as if she was planning to fire at it, but she was doing it quite oddly.

"Don't hold the gun so close to your face, it'll smack you in the face. You'll also want to prepare for the recoil, but don't hold onto it so tightly that your knuckles turn white" I gently warned her, carefully manoeuvring her head back from it so that she wasn't likely to hurt herself. I gave a small signal to Clementine to prepare her gun in case Sarah's shot went wayward, so that we wouldn't leave the poor deer alive and in pain. Carlos himself also prepared a rifle next to his daughter, but I was unsure why at first. "Once you're ready, flick the safety off - that's this switch over here - and squeeze the trigger smoothly"

She spent only a couple of seconds longer refining her aim, before firing smoothly at the deer. She yelped softly as the gun's recoil ended up making her gun dance in her hands for a second, but I was more than pleased to note that her bullet had managed to hit the deer. It was a bit off centre in the head, but it did enough to startle the deer into staying still long enough for Carlos to let loose one of his own bullets to completely fell it.

"Sorry, killing deer with hand guns are considered to be unethical" Carlos apologised to us, assuring us that he hadn't intervened because he thought less of his daughter. I hadn't known about it in all honesty, as any time we had been hunting with myself, Sam, Clem and Duck, we had often never used bullets on them. It became obvious that Clem didn't know about it either, as when I glanced at her, her only response seemed to be an apologetic shrug of her shoulders for not knowing it ahead of time. "But that was well done Sarah. I'm really proud of you"

"...It doesn't really feel good" Sarah admitted exactly what I expected her to say, as I could imagine her being vegetarian in any other situation if she had the choice.

"I know. But now everyone at the camp will be eating well for the night" I reminded her of the bonus food that we would be returning to camp with, and that did seem to help her come to grips with why people hunted for food. "Come on, let's get this deer back to camp before walkers show up"

Sarah giggled softly to herself, finding some hilarity in the name that Clementine and I used for the dead. I supposed it was a basic name for it, but in the same vein 'lurkers' was about the same in terms for basic names. Ah well, at the very least it gave her some laughter, and that was a good enough reason.

"Hold on, let me carry the deer back" Carlos clearly was thinking along the same lines as Nick was, already standing up and trying to hurry over to the new food before I could. I jokingly sighed, waiting patiently to see if he could even manage without me, as he did not look as strong as some of the other men within our group. True to what I expected after he had made sure it wasn't going to bleed all over him, he struggled immensely to pick it up, seeming more like he was going to crumple under the weight of it all. "Urgh! Hold on - Agh! - I have it!"

"Look, at the very least, let me use my right shoulder to help you" I calmly moved around him until I could place my right shoulder and arm underneath the carcass, before lifting myself up and taking approximately half of the weight onto my body. The moment I did that it became clear that Carlos could then manage to move with it, so I lead the two of us in the direction of where we had set up for camp that night. "Let's go girls, walkers react to noise"

"They do?" Sarah didn't seem to know that one basic fact about walkers, but Clementine carefully took her hand to start to pull her with us.

"They do, but I'll protect you" Clementine seemed to understand that Sarah was just now beginning to be taught about what was going on in the world, and was working on steadily introducing her to it just like Carlos and I were working on. In an example, Carlos, Clem and I knew how to swim, but she didn't. We were starting by first letting her dip her feet into the water, rather than throwing her in the deep end and expecting that she knew how to swim. "Do you want to hear about this one time I pet a cow?"

"Sure!" Sarah happily accepted the change of subject, and I could feel the smile breaking out over my face at the memory of Maybelle and Bramble. It was more than pleasing to note that Clementine still considered Maybelle and Bramble to be a happy memory within her mind, enough to share it with her newest friend.

"They're becoming great friends" Carlos mentioned that, to which I agreed. Not only were they becoming bosom buddies, but I had the feeling my daughters support was going to help Sarah far more with her growth into a proud adult woman. "...I'm glad she has somebody like Clementine to be there for her. The world is frightening as it is with her anxiety, so it'll only be a good thing"

Carlos confirming my theory of Sarah having some kind of medical condition wasn't all that surprising, as the player often could note several moments within the game that were not the typical reactions to things. It even explained some of the hesitation to even show her how bad the world had gotten from his in game counterpart... But now he also had me and Clementine to be there. Not just his daughter, but for him as well.

"She's not the only one being supported, you know" I affectionately reminded him of that, taking a brief moment to brush my right shoulder against his left in a comforting manner. He smiled coyly at me, sending the message that he did understand that I wasn't only there for his daughter. And perhaps, he maybe even understood that a bit better now that he knew of my romantic affiliation. "I'm here for you Carlos"

"And I, to you" He returned the sentiment right back to me, but it was still somewhat in the air if he was referring to a platonic meaning behind his words or something more intimate than that. Either way, I was more than happy with whichever one he was offering to me.


	14. The Fountain of Youth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: Aha! I am really proud of this chapter. Very saucy and nice >:3  
> Also me: You do realise you have never written a chapter like this in this series, right? You may be suddenly surprising your readers  
> Me: What? No, I totally have sexually charged chapters!  
> Also me: No, that's the other series.  
> Me: That's bull!  
> Me: *Checks other chapters*  
> Me: *Realises that other me is correct*  
> Me:...  
> Also me: Your bias for the characters in the second season is showing  
> Me: Shut up!

"Wow, would you look at that?" Pete observed the deer Carlos and I were carrying on our shoulders with an impressed gleam in his eyes, with everyone else soon coming to take a look. There of course were the number of people worried about me carrying something beyond my arm being healed, but it was such a common occurrence by then that I had completely anticipated it happening.

"Prim, why are you using your arm again?" Nick scolded me, already moving forward and taking the weight from me before I could ask him to. In fact, it seemed as if Nick was so much stronger than Carlos in the sense that the moment the younger man took it, Carlos was able to slip out from under the deer like I had.

"Easy Esteban, she was using her right shoulder, not her left" Alvin chuckled at how eager Nick was to do things for me, and I found myself giggling softly at the slang nickname that he had given Nick in that moment. Personally, considering the Hispanic nature behind that nickname, I was more inclined to give the name toward Carlos, but I digress. "Besides, from the looks of things, Carlos was having difficulty without her help"

"I... May have underestimated how heavy dead weight is" Carlos admitted his slight slip-up with a sheepish grin, instead directing his attention over to the basket of fish that was resting at Luke's feet. "I see that you two were also fruitful with your expedition"

"Yeah, we were. There was a rock pool that we could climb to reach, and it seems like fish like to gather in it while they are heading downstream" Luke gestured in a vague direction over his shoulder in the direction that he and Alvin had gone, and I spent my time looking down at the basket of fish. They had certainly caught a decent amount considering the fact that they were likely fishing without tools, but at the time they only had gotten around five decently sized fish. "We could go and get some more, but Alvin said that he doesn't want to go again"

"The knees aren't what they used to be" Alvin was quite happy to make fun of his own aging body, admitting that he couldn't go climbing cliffs as much as some of the younger people in the group. "We were thinking of sending both Luke and Nick back out, but I need someone to help me gut and clean the fish we already have"

"And I'm acting as the guard" Pete gave another reason for why they hadn't gathered a second party based on the people they already had. Luke seemed like he was already delegated for being one of the group members to head back, as he had already managed to get the lower parts of his pants wet (if the wet patches of clothing were anything to go by). "Carlos likely needs to stick around to help do the proper cleaning on the deer carcass, so..."

It was beginning to sound suspiciously like they had been specifically waiting for me to return, rather than anyone else. I supposed that Clementine could have gone now that she was back, but she likely wanted to stick with Sarah... And it wasn't like I could have that private discussion with her on the way there; Luke would inadvertently prevent that from happening. Another possibility was Duck, but it seemed as if there was a good reason why I should go instead of him.

"Actually, Prim does need to wash out her wound today" Carlos seemed to remember that we had yet to do that on that particular day, and it was something that the Doctor was very insistent about considering the fears of running an infection. "Is the water fresh?"

"That it is; it tastes and appears akin to spring water" Luke confirmed Carlos' idea that the rock pool would be a good type of water to clean out my wound with, as it meant that we wouldn't have to use some of our valuable medical equipment instead. Now with it essentially decided by majority vote that I was the one going, Luke turned to me with a bright smile, clearly pleased that I was going with him. "I guess that means we'll be fishing partners for the next couple of hours. Hope you're ready to get wet"

I tried my hardest to not laugh aloud at his accidental (intentional?) double entendre, instead managing to settle for a wide grin. In fact, I managed to spot a sly wink that Carlos sent my way, as though it was more than just a coincidence that he had suggested that I go. Keeping in line with the fact that he now knew about my polyamorous side, I was quite certain that I was correct in my guess. After confirming that I was well and truly ready to go, I set out with him, as by then I had built up a bit of energy that I wanted to expend in something useful.

"It's not actually that far, it’s a couple of minutes that way" Luke directed me slightly to the left of where we had started to head up, before a slight cliff seemed to loom ahead of us. The sound of running water was clear above us, showing that the cliff likely curved off to the path of least resistance before heading downstream. "Do you need help climbing up?"

"Let me see how I go on my own first" I decided that while being doted on by others felt nice, I didn't want to become completely reliant on others to do things for me. Luke accepted this, standing just behind me in case I were to fall down and needed to be caught. Putting my right hand in a hand-hold and using it to lift me was as easy as it always had been, but the moment my left hand reached up I could already feel the arm burning ever so slightly from the skin stretching. Putting weight on it, let alone the weight of my entire body, on it was likely going to end in disaster. "Darn it... Guess it's not quite ready yet"

"Well, injuries do actually take quite a while to heal, so it doesn't surprise me that much that your arm needs longer than a few days" Luke wasn't surprised at all by the result, seemingly having predicted the outcome even before he had let me try on my own. As I carefully lowered myself back down onto the ground, I felt a memory resurfacing in my mind, staring at the injured limb for longer than I thought I would. "...Something wrong?"

"No, not really. I guess I'm just reminded of a teenager that we had in my old group" Ben seemed to come to my mind, as the vivid memories of him losing his right hand somehow seemed to stick more in my mind than the time that Lee lost his left hand in the game. Who knows, perhaps the simple difference between reality and game was enough to make one outshine the other. "He got bitten on the wrist, and I was forced to take off his hand to stop him from turning into a walker. While I always had felt bad about doing that because of the initial pain of it all, I had never really thought about how much harder it was for him to survive without it. Even something as simple as climbing a ladder would be that much harder for him, you know?"

"I can only imagine" Luke nodded his head in a vague understanding of the concept, as he had yet to encounter someone who had lost a limb like that. He hadn't seen Reggie yet, so I guess it made sense that he could only sympathize with the thought of losing a limb. He did seem to understand however that there wasn't much point in dwelling that long about things that had happened in the past, instead flexing his upper body muscles in preparation for the extra effort he would have to put in for me. "The good thing in this situation however, is that _I_ am plenty equipped to help you get up there as you are right now. You up for a piggy-back ride?"

"Sure, that sounds like a plan" I didn't doubt that he could take my weight, as not only did he look about as strong as Nick did (with some minor differences. Nick had better forearms and biceps, but Luke certainly seemed to have good shoulders and pecs in place of those), but I had the extra evidence in the fact that he had been the one to carry me to the cabin when I was practically unconscious. And even better, I wasn't going to be dead weight this time, which Carlos had proven earlier to make carrying things extra difficult. "But as long as it is a piggy-back ride; I don't think you'll be able to manage carrying me like you did when we had first met"

"You underestimate my power" Luke threw in that little extra tidbit, not only showing that he was just as happy to joke around with me and I was with him, but also even showing a slight hint of nerdiness behind his rough country exterior. "That was from Star Wars, if you couldn't tell"

"Boy, you don't even know how nerdy I am. I could run mental rings around you with my fiction expertise" I giggled, which earned me a hearty chuckle from him as well. He turned around and loosely gestured for me to clamber on, which I happily managed to do. While I couldn't grip onto his brown shirt that tightly with my left hand, I still felt far more secure with my other three limbs wrapped around his upper half than if I were instructed to clamber up the cliff face on my own. "Ready"

"Righty! Hold on tight" Luke gave me a short bit of warning before he seemed to climb up the cliff face with a vigour I had yet to see in him. He easily seemed to climb up the cliff face like he had been rock climbing for a long time, reaching the top within a matter of seconds rather than the minutes that it would have taken me to replicate the same feat.

The moment we had reached the top, I was blown away with the beauty of the rock pool that they had managed to find. Not only were the trees dropping little leaves onto the pristine surface of the pool that they had found, but the water seemed completely crystal clear. If there wasn't the slight rippling at both the entrance of the pool and the exit, then it might have even had a pure still reflection looking back at us. Even if it hadn't been filled with fish to boot, it was a sight to behold.

"...Wow" I breathed out in awe at the surroundings we had landed in, even somewhat relaxing in my grip of his shirt to peer a bit closer. That move proved to make Luke do something I hadn't expected, both of his hands shooting back to grasp onto my shoulders.

"Aaannnd here comes the stunner!" I wasn't quite sure what he was rambling on about, but the specific tone and excited monologue in his voice reminded me of several announcers on silly wrestling shows that I had seen in the past. It only really clicked in my mind a second later that he was likely pulling some kind of wrestling move on me, but by that point it was far too late; him successfully managing to throw me over his shoulder so that I ended up landing on my back in the pool. He managed to do it in such a way that I didn't land on my left arm at all, instead causing me to just harmlessly splash into the pool, and almost immediately I could hear his laughter even as I sat under the water. "Hahaha! Sorry, sorry, I couldn't help myself! True enough, it's not exactly a stunner, but it's pretty close!"

His early warning managed to give me enough time to take a deep breath in, which I used to my advantage, lurking just underneath the surface as though he had managed to knock me out. It didn't take him that long to realise that I wasn't surfacing fast enough, so he started to lean in closer to the pool, calling out for me in case I was just distracted for a moment.

"...Prim? You all good?" He legitimately started to sound worried after a second, which took his attention away from my right hand that was sneaking it's way out of the pool in the direction of the strap running diagonally across his chest. If anything, the way he was placing most of his weight on the balls of his feet made it even easier to drag him in, which he only realised once I tugged sharply on the strap. "HEY-

His cry of surprise got cut off the moment he fell into the pool right beside me, which was my cue to finally surface and take a grateful breath in. The moment he raised his own head, I heartily laughed at his absolutely sodden look, it making his messy hair go even wilder than I had expected it to.

"You should have seen your face!" I pointed directly at his bewildered face, which finally clued him in that everything I had done was on purpose to get some silly little revenge against his own prank. Once he realised that I had gotten him just as good as he had gotten me (and he seemed relieved that I wasn't bothered by his own little joke), he started to heartily laugh in agreement about how good we had gotten each other. "Good god man, you scared all of the fish away!"

"To be fair, the deer you and Carlos shot would be enough food for a long while; everything here was just going to be an extra bonus" He was right, I was even wondering myself on why they were so keen to get more fish even though we were set for that night. But that comment of his did make the flirtatious part of my mind spark into thinking, wondering exactly _why_ he had wanted me to come with if the fish wasn't all that important.

"Oh, is that so?" I purposefully cranked up my cheeky tone to a high level, making it very clear that I was showing interest in him. I wasn't really sure if Luke was one of those people who were a bit dense in terms of love, but the game certainly seemed to suggest so in the sense that he was a bit slow to understand Bonnie and Jane's affections towards him. Either way, going for the more direct route sounded like the better option, as it meant that there wasn't much room for misinterpretation. In the worst case scenario, I learn that I am absolutely not his type of girl, and in the best... Well, I'm certain that you can use your imagination. "In that case, your remark about me getting wet certainly is called into question. If I wasn't going to be fishing, what would a strapping young lad be doing with a pretty maiden in the woods together?"

"I'm a 'strapping young lad', am I?" Luke happily seemed to return the same kind of playful tone that I was giving him, the both of us softly treading water as we waited for the other to make the first move. There certainly seemed to be a buzz of electricity in the air between us, and I felt it would have been pretty easy for me to probe a bit deeper to figure out how far he would go for that kind of connection. While it was up the players interpretation as to whether Luke was or was not dense in terms of romantic love, it did make itself clear that he had a _very_ healthy libido. "I'm not quite sure about that description for me, but I'd say your description of yourself is nowhere near as grand as what I'd use"

"And what would you describe me as?" I probed and prodded that bit more, taking the moment to swim a little closer toward him. He had managed to back up just a bit towards the edge of the pool, which meant that he could find something to actually perch himself on without having to expend energy on floating the entire time.

"Hmm, probably something like a water nymph... Or a mermaid" He started to pick out various beautiful mythical creatures off the top of his head, taking particular note to select those that were often found within the water. While he was musing about these, his arms snaked around my waist, gently pulling me closer toward him. There wasn't much resistance in them, giving me an opportunity to leave if I truly wanted, which I did appreciate.

"If I'm a mermaid, that would certainly make you something like Adonis" I wanted to sneak in that last bit of praise, as I wasn't quite content with him building me up completely and leaving himself in the dirt. I could understand that it was a common trait within people to praise others but look down on themselves (I knew it all too well, as I used to have the habit before truly accepting myself), but I was having none of it. "And if it really pleases you, then I can be your Aphrodite in return"

"Sounds perfect" Luke hummed his approval for the descriptions we had given of each other, finally bridging that gap between us.

When I lent down and met him halfway, I wasn't all that surprised to find that his lips were somewhat rough; it was a common thing between many of my lovers’ lips in the apocalypse. But they certainly were hot, searingly so, feeling like they would have ignited and heated any part of my skin on a cold night. Another special magic touch that they seemed to hold was the way they managed to excite me, every part of my skin waking every excited nerve, dancing underneath the surface long after they left.

It wasn't just the special way his lips seemed to work; his movements betrayed quite easily that this wasn't his first rodeo. One of his hands slowly glided up my back until they reached high enough to nestle in the base of my hair, before gently tugging on the strands to see if it was something I enjoyed. The pleased murmur leaving my throat seemed to suggest that it certainly was something that I liked, and it also prompted me to find his own shorter bed of hair and tug on it myself out of curiosity. For a brief second I was worried that I had pulled a little too hard out of my sense of excitement, but the combination of a groan and a whine that seemed to bubble in his throat spelled out that he was more than used to playing a little rougher than some of the others.

I pulled my lips away from his attentive ones for a second to recover my breath for a second, not fully getting the oxygen I needed. While he no longer had the capability of kissing, licking and fascinating over them in that moment, he still found something to fawn over, his lips first wondering only a second lower to suckle at the edge of my jaw before going just a bit south to start peppering kisses against my pulse. My giggle and enamoured hum only seemed to spark more of his playful nature, causing him to search a bit lower until he reached the edge of my turtleneck sweater, picking it up between his teeth and worrying it from side to side.

"Down boy, don't wreck my clothing when I just got it back" I cheekily poked him in the cheek before he got the idea to tear apart my clothing with his teeth, as while the option sounded appealing, I did want to get back to the camp in a decent condition.

"Woof" He proceeded to wolfishly grin at me, his single word being muffled by the fabric still in his mouth. But even though there seemed to be a rebellious and naughty look within his eyes, he did release my clothing without any further damage being done to it. The moment his mouth was finally free to use for something other than lavishing me, a thought seemed to linger in the back of his mind, bringing a slight bitter taste in his mind. "Ah, damn it, I'm doing it again"

"...'It'?" I couldn't help it, the curiosity broke my concentration in the moment, wondering what he was referring to. If it was him getting distracted from his actual task at hand because of a pretty woman, I supposed I could understand it, because he did show that in the game when he was supposed to be keeping watch in the fourth episode.

"Oh, no, don't worry about it. It's a slight problem between Nick and I" Luke tried to brush it off, having a rather mature take on it by not trying to push his worries onto me if it was something between him and his best friend. Problem was, I was too curious for my own good... The saying did say that curiosity killed the cat after all; even if the cat was a metaphor for the mood between us in that moment. My probing look seemed to be enough to say that I wasn't going to be content with no answer, so he softly sighed to himself before bringing it up. "Nick and I often have the same interest in women, if you hadn't figured that part out yet. The only problem is, I'm apparently really bad at picking up signs, and Nick... Well, he's unlucky. So most of the time, he's completely smitten with a girl, and then I come along and attract the girl without realising it. It uh... It kinda feels like I did that again. You know, considering the fact that you seemed to have a thing for him... Which he doesn't experience often"

"...Huh. You know, that does actually answer a lot of questions about the both of you" Far from worrying me, it did seem to fill in a lot of the blanks for me in regards to how the two of them had a dynamic with each other. Not only did it confirm a couple of my theories about how Luke worked, but it did fit in line with the game's representation of Nick's envious nature to how charismatic Luke was. But best of all, it wasn't nearly as big of a hurdle as it would have been for other people, as I didn't have the very obvious worry that most girls had; I wasn't the kind of girl to agonise over which solitary person would be my lover. "Well, the good news for you both is that it isn't really a problem for me"

"It isn't?" It seemed as if Luke truly was dense in regards to romantic natures, as he was the first one in the cabin to actually receive a hint long before the others had. Even if he hadn't gotten it, he could have asked his best friend about how things were going with me, considering the fact that Nick had learned about it two days prior.

I waited for the penny to drop in his mind, but it steadily felt like I needed to give him some extra nudges before he would understand. As he still stared at me confused, I sighed softly, before going into my own counter-explanation to his long one.

"Do you remember the significance with my nickname?" I reminded him of that, as at least it was going to be something fresh within his memory of when he had comforted me. He nodded his head, still looking uncertain what it was supposed to link back to, which meant that I had to get him to repeat it aloud before it might click. "Repeat it for me, would you? Verbatim, if you can help it"

"I don't know what that fancy word meant, but I can repeat exactly what you had said back at the time if you would like" Luke did seem to be closer to a 'farm boy', opposite to myself despite him going to college. I giggled at the fact that he had exactly gotten what I had wanted out of him, and nodded my head to press him onward to actually say them. "It's been a long time since you've been called just 'Prim'. The people in your old group who used to call you that were your lovers"

I was impressed; he truly got the words completely correct from memory. What was not quite so impressive was the fact that repeating it didn't seem to be enough.

"Lovers" I honed in on that word, and there was a slight glimmer in his eyes that seemed to say that the lightbulb was slowly flickering on. In the end, I decided that it couldn't hurt to be more direct, akin to how direct I had been about my own feelings for him. "Luke, I was with that group for three months, and we didn't have any deaths within our group. We did kick some crotchety old man out, along with someone who betrayed us to a group of bandits, but they were not romantically interested in me"

"Oh" Luke said that softly, but I felt that it still hadn't quite made sense. Mercifully, he only had to think about it for a little bit longer, putting us both out of our misery in terms of that puzzle. "...OH!"

"And the other shoe finally drops" I teased him by making a big deal about how long he had taken to understand what I was getting at, which prompted him to chuckle softly into my neck out of embarrassment. "God, and here I was dropping hints to you first out of everyone"

"I mean, I... In my defense, I didn't even know that was really a thing! Is it a thing?" He asked me, which made me quite happy. Not only did he seem to find it completely fine, he seemed positively elated at the thought of it. I gladly affirmed that it was indeed a thing, despite what some old conservative Christians would have told people. "Wait, what do you mean 'everyone'?"

"Well, Nick knows about it, and so does Carlos" I started to count off the people that actually knew in the cabin group, and I was pleased to find out that the numbers were dwindling the longer I was around them. "I haven't told Pete personally, but there is a chance that Nick may have told him"

"Nah, not Nick. He keeps secrets better than a corpse" Luke could confirm that Pete would not have heard about it through his nephew, which I supposed did make sense with their already tense relationship. "What about Alvin and Rebecca? Or the children?"

"Not the adults, but the kids know. Clementine and Duck knew about it for a long time; we've travelled for a long time together after all" I told him that, before wondering a bit about the last solitary child that I hadn't mentioned by name just yet. "Sarah... She may know; Carlos told me that her Uncle was poly, so she might have guessed it"

"Poly?" Luke truly showed that he was a new participant to terms within the Lgbt community, but at the very least he seemed to be eager to learn about them.

"It's short for polyamorous, dating back to the Greeks. Amor stands for love, while poly stands for many or several. In a better translation, I guess it means 'one who loves many'" I gladly started to divulge all I had figured out about it myself, gently bopping him on the nose before I finally decided to pull out of his arms and swim to the edge of the pool. "Come on, I'll teach you all about it while we actually clean out my wound and get some fishing done"


	15. Night Campfire Glow

Despite Luke's astounding ability to frighten whole rivers full of fish (by using me as a wrestling partner, but I did have to admit that it was funny) and my lengthy explanations of everything Lgbt+ that Luke had never encountered before, we ended up managing to catch several more fish before calling it quits. Once we returned back there of course were the couple of people in the group wondering how on earth we had managed to get ourselves completely wet if we were just supposed to be wading in the water, but it was quite happily accepted once I gave them a reason that I had wanted to swim anyway.

With an abundance of food to deal with, I decided to help either party in preparing the food we had caught, especially so because Sam was nosing his greedy little face everywhere to try and see if one of the morsels being prepared were for him. Somehow I ended up partnered alongside Rebecca, as she sat down and decided that she wanted to help with something rather than stand about.

"Bah, look at this piss poor job" Rebecca snorted in disgust as she held out one of the previously gutted fish, as she was sitting across from me cleaning the previously handled fish while I got to slicing open the ones we had collected just a moment before. I grimaced somewhat at what she was referring to, as the knife work on that fish seemed quite amateurish compared to some of the others she had gotten to. "Honestly, who handled this one? It's as if they expect us girls to do all of the work"

"I mean, they do get an A plus for effort" I giggled somewhat, as I could remember that the two men assigned to the fish before I had come back were Alvin and Nick respectively. As to which one of those two had done the worse job, I couldn't really say. Rebecca huffed at the thought of giving someone the benefit of the doubt, and I just found myself softly laughing at her fiery nature. "But it does seem like us women are doing a lot of work"

"I'll bet! Those boys were tossing you from job to job today!" Rebecca clearly thought that I was being too lenient on everyone else, but I couldn't do much more than smile innocently at the idea that I had done it out of the goodness of my heart. After all, I had actually gone with both Carlos and Luke for somewhat... Ulterior motives compared to just searching for food. "Honestly, they lecture you about not using your arm, but next it's all 'Hey Prim, we can't get anything done on our own without you'"

The next bout of laughter coming out of my mouth nearly threatened to become a loud raucous one compared to the demure ones from earlier, but I managed to stifle it behind my hand to not attract any unwanted attention from the dead in the woods. Rebecca seemed quite pleased that she was making me laugh by being her natural self, smiling at me once I had managed to settle myself down.

"Good lord, it's been such a long time since I've had a fellow woman to talk to" Rebecca spoke fondly for a moment as we continued to work, spelling out that she and her fellow cabin members had been out of the community for quite a while. "I mean, yes, Sarah was also here, but you can't talk about some things with a child her age"

"And trying to talk about womanly things with guys will likely just earn you a completely befuddled look on their faces" I agreed, as even back in the group for the first season there were times that I could only speak to Lilly, Carley, Christa or Katjaa about things. Now that I thought about it, that group was quite heavily leaning towards the male gender... As did this current one, as the four of us women were still just barely outmatched by the seven men.

"Tell me about it. I love my man, but he's sometimes a bit dense" Rebecca agreed, casting her eyes over to Alvin who was trying to help Carlos with the remains of the deer. I naturally looked as well, which caused Carlos to notice us glancing in their direction, him giving a soft smile in return. "Speaking of love, what's up with you and a number of the guys here? I thought you were aiming exclusively for Nick"

"Exclusivity isn't in my vocabulary; I'm polyamorous" I found it easy to talk to her about it, which truly did highlight the difference between all of the people within the game against my old "friends" from college. There was no chance that I would have told the previous people in my life (beyond my parents, they were naturally super supportive) about my sexual and romantic orientation, as the utter fear of being humiliated and treated as some freak had a high probability of becoming true. In the apocalypse, it truly was easy to see who was good and who was horrifically bad, and the chances of remaining with those bad people simply because it was "easy", was ridiculous. "Most of the guys I have shown interest in here know about it, so whether they are alright with it comes down to them"

"Oh, interesting" Rebecca genuinely seemed to be telling the truth, as the tone of her voice and her slightly bent forward posture did indicate that she was listening intently to what I was going to say next. "How old were you when you discovered this about yourself?"

"I was sixteen when I discovered that polyamory was a thing, and it only took me a couple of months later to realise that I really thought it fit how I felt about people. I had already known by then that I was bisexual for three years by then, but it did help ease the transition into accepting who I was" I was surprised to realise that it had been seven years since realising my true sexual orientation, as it had seemed so much longer than that amount of time. "Honestly, the harder part was trying to keep it under wraps. Everyone I talked to believed that being monogamous was the only thing allowed, so... Yeah, it was difficult for a while"

"I can only imagine" Rebecca didn't seem to know the experience first-hand, being born quite lucky in the sense that she was heterosexual, monogamous and completely fine with her born gender, fitting in line with society's heteronormative view on how things worked. "Thank you for telling me"

"Thank you for listening" I easily returned the sentiment to her, as she felt very easy to talk to despite her quite stubborn and confident nature; which often scared away others who were more used to people who weren't very strong willed. Frankly, she reminded me of a combination of Lilly and Katjaa's personalities, so I was quite drawn to her strict and motherly vibes.

With the slight lull in our discussion, I took a moment to check on the others around the camp, being quite pleased to note that everyone seemed hale and hearty. Duck and Pete were spending time loving Sam to bits, the eager dog practically being in heaven with the amount of love and pats that he was receiving. It seemed as if Alvin and Carlos were just done with their deer carcass, with the latter cleaning off his bloody hands and the former packing away the different meat piles they had sorted out. Luke and Nick, bless the two of them, were trying their hardest to start a fire with no help from the others, but it seemed that it was slow going with their bow drill method. And finally, Clementine and Sarah were lying on their backs not far away from the two men starting the fire, pointing and staring at the stars appearing above their heads while they still had the darkness to see them.

"Looks like that's all of the fish" Rebecca reminded me when my hand was still groping around in the nearby basket, realising that I didn't have any more to cut. "I still have some energy in me to handle these last few, so why don't you go and get yourself clean?"

"Thanks Rebecca" I stood up and put away the knife I had been lent for that specific task, before heading over to the doctor to see if I could steal some of his cleaning water for my own hands. Despite the fact that I had learned quite proficiently by then on how to sneak around based on what my old college friend Tessa had taught me, I purposefully stomped my feet enough so that I wouldn't inadvertently be giving Carlos a fright. "Hey, got room for another?"

"There certainly is" Carlos quite happily cleaned the last parts of his hands before tilting the water bottle he was holding so that I could wash my own hands underneath the stream. It was nostalgic for a second, as I was reminded of the time that Kenny, Lilly and I had the shower on the outskirts of Savannah... Ah, that memory was a pleasant one. While I was off in memory land about those things, it seemed as if Carlos was thinking in the opposite way; toward the future instead of the past. "I was pondering thoughts while you were gone... I'm not sure how happy Sarah is going to be"

"With what?" I somewhat thickly answered his statement with a question, as I was just coming out of my memories when he had said that.

"With dating" Carlos was patient enough to answer my question, and it was then that I softly uttered an 'oh' underneath my breath. Ah, so his earlier statement to me when we were returning to the camp _was_ meant in the romantic sense. And since he knew about my polyamorous side and my abundant interest in him as a potential partner, I suppose there was no reason that he had to dawdle in terms of initiating something with me... Beyond his daughter, which did seem to be his main worry. "It's been so long since her mother passed away, and I haven't dated at all in those nine years... I'm worried that she'd see it as a bad thing"

"I can always go and ask her how she feels about it" It felt like the right thing to offer to him, as I was planning on talking to Clementine as it was (seeing as the girls were together at the time, it seemed like it would be a good time to catch them). Besides, if I was going to be dating her father, then it was only right that I put in the effort to make sure that I wasn't alienating anyone. "I needed to talk to Clementine anyway. If Sarah says she is uncomfortable with it, then... You know, we'll see how we go"

"...That sounds amazing" Carlos gave me an ice melting smile, one that felt like it could have warmed me even without a fire on a cold winter's night. That same warm feeling spread through my own body until my smile reflected a similar feeling back to him, the both of us smiling like a pair of fools in love.

"Bullseye!" Luke cheered excitedly, him and his best friend managing to lift a small bundle of kindling with the hot coals they had sparked into life. Carlos did seem somewhat worried that the both of them were going to set the forest on fire, so he politely nodded his head toward me before slipping past me to keep an eye on them. With the opportunity now to head over to the two young daughters of the group, I began to move in that direction before someone seemed to notice that I was alone; catching me before I could reach them.

"Prim, do you have a second?" Pete gently looped one of his arms around my waist, clearly spelling out that he really needed to talk to me. Like Luke, there wasn't really any strength put into the hold, but there was a slight sense of urgency in his features that practically begged me to stay for a moment.

"Sure, I have a moment" I tried my best to spell out that I did have plans to get to at one point, but I did allow him to gently lead me a slight bit away so that we had a moment of privacy. His eyes seemed to glance in several directions, with a number of times his eyes glanced between both of my children. Whatever he wanted to talk about, one of them certainly was about Duck and Clementine. "What's up?"

"See, Duck admitted that he's kind of worried about how much time Clementine is spending with Sarah" Pete got right down to something that Duck must have admitted in the meantime, and it certainly seemed to be something that was bothering the young thirteen year old boy. What I didn't quite understand, was what the problem was with Clementine having a new companion to spend time with.

"And?" I pressed him, as I truly didn't know what the problem might have been. If Pete was going to say that the problem was down to the remote possibility that both girls had a romantic interest in one another, then frankly he was talking to the wrong kind of person about it.

"And... I honestly have no experience with young boys having an interest in a crush of theirs" Pete essentially admitted that he was bringing it to my attention purely because he was lost on what to do, which I supposed was a perfectly fine thing to tell me about. After all, it didn't seem likely that Nick was very open with Pete about his own romantic problems, so this would have been the first time that the latter had run into a a teenage kid asking for romantic advice. "I was hoping that you might be able to help him out"

"Oh, is that it? No problem" It sounded like a piece of cake compared to some of the mental gymnastics I had done to save people’s lives in that new world, so matters of the heart seemed like a breeze in comparison. I was about to sidestep around the older man, when I noticed that the slightly worried look on his face hadn't left at all; his worried glances instead being directed to the three potential lovers around the growing campfire. "Is that all?"

"...I may have heard from a little bird that you are polyamorous" He admitted that someone had spilled the information on my sexual orientation, which I had expected to happen at some time. But considering how good at keeping secrets Nick was (according to Luke), it left only two other alternatives as to who it could have been. While Carlos seemed like he had more opportunity to do so, if Luke's sudden spilling of secrets at the pool was any indication... Then it was more likely to be the latter of the two. "I just want you to know, I don't necessarily have a problem with it. But... Wouldn't it be awkward?"

"You mean, with you and Nick?" I could only surmise that it was his nephew that he was referring to, as I couldn't imagine why the other two would present a problem for him. It did make sense, most people considered it already problematic to date someone if their sibling or cousin had previously done so... Let alone date someone that your uncle/nephew had dated, or that they might be dating the very same person at the _same time._ Pete predictably nodded his head, spelling out that I had gotten a good feel for how things worked in that quartet of men. "Honestly, that's likely something that you and he need to talk about; I can't make up your minds for you. At the very least, he already knows about me being poly, so that's one hurdle down"

"Yeah, sure, no problem" His tone betrayed that his view on the difficulty of dating me was much more pessimistic than his words conveyed, especially with his following words betraying his main worries. "Don't talk honestly with your nephew for god only knows how long, and then begin your new relationship by saying 'Hey, so it turns out we want to bone the same person'"

"Don't put it like that" I couldn't quite figure out if I wanted to laugh or grimace at his choice of words, but at the very least I was solely in agreement with myself that his particular picking of vocabulary would end badly. Besides, I didn't think Nick and Pete's attraction to me was purely based on sexual urges as it was. "Just... Be honest with him. Admit that you like me, but that you care enough about him that you don't want to ruin his relationship with me"

Pete sighed softly as he steeled himself, obviously taking my words on board. With a gentle touch to my nearest shoulder, he gave me a shy smile before moving off to talk to his nephew. I followed his journey for a moment, wanting to make sure that he was going to do his best, and I decided to let it be once I saw him softly request to speak to the younger man for a moment. The last I saw of them both, Nick had agreed to it, leaving Luke and Carlos with the growing fire.

Instead of heading directly to the young girls again, I diverged a little bit to move to Duck first, as he was still busy tussling with Sam. The moment the hound could spot me coming closer, his wagging went into overdrive, clearly ecstatic to have two of his favourite people nearby. This extra excitement told Duck that I had arrived, him tilting his head up with a smile on his face.

"Hey Auntie Prim" He greeted me, his smile still remaining in its brilliant glory even as I knelt down and began to join him in smoothing the dog's fur.

"Hey Duck" I returned it, wanting to spend a moment bonding with both boys before I delved into the discussion. There wasn't any animosity or uncomfortable feelings that I could detect coming from the young boy, so I was relieved to see that he had taken the change to a larger group much better than Clementine had. "Pete mentioned that you had been talking to him about a worry?"

"Yeah, about Clem" Duck's smile was still there, but it had slightly diminished in the meantime as he looked over to both girls counting the constellations. "...Do you think she likes Sarah?"

"I'd say she does; but I'm not a hundred percent certain whether that's based on friendship or something more" I decided to be honest with him, as it had taken me a long time (and Clementine's admission) to even discover how she had felt about Duck in regards to such a topic. He hummed softly, accepting my answer as the truth, but there was a slight look of uncertainty due to the fact it was something he had yet to encounter in the past. "Is that what you're worried about? That she's going to fall in love with Sarah and forget about you?"

"...Kinda" Duck was just in that age bracket where he didn't think talking about love was gross anymore, and just before the eventual teenage years where he might find it too embarrassing to talk to me about it. I was silently hoping that such a day would never come, as I always was hoping that Duck and her were going to feel comfortable talking to me about anything they needed to know.

"Well, let's be real for a second; if she does decide to date Sarah, then there isn't much you can do about that" There was a slight uncomfortable tone to the discussion, as it was often a little hard to come to grips with the fact that sometimes... Love didn't always work out the way we were hoping it would. "Sometimes relationships don't work out, but that doesn't mean that she won't care about you anymore"

"But almost all of your relationships worked out" Duck pouted, clearly thinking that it was kind of unfair that his one relationship might fail compared to the plethora of lovers that I had achieved in comparison. I giggled softly, as of course it was going to be somewhat unfair in comparison; that did often happen with people who had a "one and only" lover in comparison to mine.

"Yeah, that's one of the benefits of polyamory; the chances of missing out because they already have a lover don't happen as much" I admitted that wholeheartedly, but that didn't necessarily mean that I thought that polyamory was naturally better than monogamy; it simply was a difference of opinion for most. "But there are downsides to being poly. Sometimes your lovers might feel like they aren't getting enough attention; which might cause them to act out or leave the relationship. The important thing for both kinds of relationship is communication, so that people can say when they are not quite content with a situation"

"...So, just tell her that I like her?" Duck stated that as though he thought it was completely ridiculous, and I supposed that I could understand why. Casually telling a crush that you liked them was not always easy, especially if it was one of the first relationships you may have had.

"Why not? In the worst case scenario, she tells you that she doesn't feel that way for you or that she likes Sarah better. Even if that happens, then at least you know where you stand, and you can work on being extremely good friends" I laid out the possibilities of what might happen, because I trusted that Duck wasn't going to be one of those bothered men who didn't want to be friends with people after being turned down for whatever reason. "If she's monogamous and does like both of you, then she has some thinking to do on who she romantically likes. And if she's poly, well, then it's entirely up to her how she handles it"

"How do you know she's poly?" Duck asked me, and frankly, that was the easiest question he had posed to me that night.

"I don't; I'm just operating without the assumption that everyone is automatically monogamous" I quite happily told him that, gently ruffling the brown hair on his head. He laughed softly, as he luckily was still at the age where I could get away with ruffling his hair, which made me feel that much better. It was possibly too early to be thinking along those lines, but I was unsure about what I was going to do when they were all grown up. "But never mind about that. Feel free to find me later if you have more questions"

"Okay" Duck seemed content with the answers I had given him for now, which prompted me to stand up and head towards the girls. Right before I left however, he left me with one final thing. "Love you"

"I love you too Duck" I gladly bent down for a moment to share a hug with him, enjoying the fact that he still saw me as an important parental figure in his life. After he gently patted my back, we separated, and I went on my way to Clementine.

To my surprise, Clementine was on her own sitting on the grass. Sarah had been called away for a moment by her father, as she huddled near the fire that Luke was still building up. It seemed as if my detour toward Duck had built up Carlos' confidence a little bit, so he was gently talking to her in hushed tones about me. Even Luke seemed to be involved in the situation, as occasionally Carlos would gesture over to him and allow the younger man to talk about something before switching back to Sarah's father. All in all, it looked like things were going well over there.

"Carlos said that you wanted to talk to me, so he told me to stay put" Clementine seemed to want to explain to me why she still wasn't glued to Sarah's side, and I softly sat down beside her. We weren't necessarily alone, the others were quite close, but I felt that it would have been enough. "He's getting way too buddy-buddy with you"

"Actually, that's kind of why I wanted to come and talk to you" I began to speak, and the scowl became apparent on her face the moment the conversation started to steer in that direction, her legs and arms even slightly coming upwards as though to act as a barrier between us. While I could tell that it wasn't necessarily going to be completely nice, it was about time that I handled it. "I've noticed that you're getting really bitter about me hanging out with the guys from this group"

"It's because they are becoming way too familiar with you! It's like they think that somehow because you're a girl that they have every right to do whatever they please!" Despite her agitated tone, she luckily wasn't at the point of shouting... She knew all too well that yelling helped nobody in this new world. But even though she certainly sounded animatedly against it all, her words didn't really spell out the reason _why._

"Are you worried about the fact that I may abandon you if I get in a relationship with these guys?" I could still vaguely remember that being a big problem of hers all the way back in Macon, in the early stages of me being in a relationship with the people from the first group. There was always going to be the slightly awkward transition going from a four person group back to a larger one, as now I didn't have as much time for her as I used to... But it didn't seem to be that, as she stubbornly hid her mouth behind her propped up knees. "Clem, honey, please talk to me. I know you're upset, but I don't know what I can do to make it better if you won't tell me. No matter what, I'm not going to get in a relationship with these people if it means I am going to alienate you from me... But you do understand that would make _me_ very upset in return, because it feels like I have to bury my polyamorous side for you"

It took a couple of seconds to see the change in her, but eventually her arms slipped off the tops of her knees, and I could see the tears building in her eyes. I moved myself in such a way until I was completely hugging her, softly running my hands through her hair as the sincerity of my words rang true. Only after we spent a number of minutes in that state, did I hear a nearly mouse-quiet sentence come out of her... And it very nearly broke my heart to hear it.

"...It feels like you're forgetting them"

I had a pretty good idea who she was referring to with her term of 'them', and I almost instantly hugged her even tighter to me once I heard it. In the end, she felt like my interactions with these guys (and them back) were like me casually tossing the memories of my previous lovers away. To her, giving her consent for my love to spread to new people would be the day when she admitted the same thought; the idea that everyone from the first group were a waste of time.

"...That's never going to happen" I felt myself also get emotional talking about it, the memories of those people still being so strong even after two years of time passing by. "You remember Lee?"

"Yeah, you still have his picture in your belt" She sniffled softly, and it was something as simple as that, that started to change her mind.

"Exactly. If I'm not going to forget about a man who... Technically never even got to know who I was, why would I forget about ten of the people that meant the most to me in the whole world?" I assured her that there was no way in the depths of heaven and hell (I still didn't believe in either, but the metaphor was good enough) that I was going to forget about them. Heck, I had travelled across time and space(?) just to save people who had never even known that I had existed! "I could get a hundred lovers within my lifetime, and I'd still remember them. They are buried here and here, in my heart and mind, until the day I die"

Clementine accidentally giggled at my mention of one hundred lovers, as even I thought that was likely going to be over the top for myself. But even so, the sentiments behind my words were true.

"I know it might take a while to get used to being in a bigger group again, but trust me; Luke, Nick, Carlos and Pete are absolute sweethearts. Rebecca and Alvin are kind of like Katjaa and Christa, and Sarah is... Well, I guess she's like Duck" I tried to ease her into getting used to things that may be happening, and for once it seemed like she was trying her best to look at it with fresh eyes. "And no matter what, you're still going to be my daughter"

I ended that discussion with another tight hug, something that she returned once she could wriggle her arms out of my stronger grip. Even though my arm was slightly burning by this point from using it a bit much, it was still completely fine by me.

"BOOYAH!" Luke excitedly called out, getting the campfire from a small tedious child into a roaring blaze compared to when he had begun. Carlos quickly hushed him with a finger to his lips, and the young leader cringed slightly when he realised how loud he had been, apologizing softly. "Sorry, let me try that again at a more reasonable volume. Booyah?"

Carlos sighed, but the others in the group smiled at his enthusiasm. With the majority of people slipping closer, I noticed that Pete and Nick were returning from their own private talk at the edge of camp. Specifically, Nick was circling around the others, seemingly on a path towards me.

"Do you want me to leave?" Clementine asked me softly, but I shook my head. I couldn't imagine that Nick was coming to talk to me about something that would have required her to leave, so she didn't have to do that if she didn't feel like it.

"Hey Prim, hey Clementine" Nick greeted the both of us equally as friendly as one another, something which only served to make me feel that much better about him coming to talk to us both. Who knew, perhaps it would help Clementine even more to realise that he was a great guy. "So, Pete just came to me to talk about the fact that you're poly"

"Not all that surprising, I did direct him to you" I smiled fondly at Pete as he walked by us for a second, and I easily returned a bright grin from him as well.

"I bet Luke told him" Nick huffed somewhat, making my theory about the secret teller more valid. "He's horrid at keeping secrets"

"Clementine, come look! If I put this green stick in the fire, it makes smoke!" Sarah excitedly called for her friend, and I released Clementine so that she could move forward to her. Carlos was doing his best to retrieve the green stick from the fire, as of course we didn't really want the smoke that it was making, but I just giggled at how mischievous the teenage girl was.

"...Luke is kind of the reason why Pete even learned about my STD" Nick dropped his voice down to a whisper, shifting closer so that not many others could overhear us. I supposed that he wanted to tell me for two reasons, both to explain his reasoning for why he thought Luke was more of a tattle-tale than he was, and possibly to clear up the earlier misconceptions I may have received when he had stormed off the last time. "Honestly, you tell your friend one time that your junk burns, and he goes and blabs it to your Uncle"

"How did that even happen? You don't strike me as the kind of guy to just... Sleep around without protection" I couldn't quite understand how he had gotten it in the first place, as from Luke's description of him, I wouldn't have been that surprised to hear him tell me that he was still a virgin. Nick sighed deeply, obviously thinking that the memory was not all that pleasant, scratching the back of his head as he began to recount it.

"It's stupid. There was a girl in our town, and she was the town bicycle" Nick started off his story in a similar vein to how Luke had, describing it as stupid, before actually going ahead with it. For a moment I was confused with his description of her, until it hit me.

"And by town bicycle, you mean..." I trailed off, as I wasn't really sure how to phrase it politely.

"Yep, that everyone has had a ride. I know it's not really a nice thing to call her, but she... I guess the polite thing is just to say that she had a reputation" Nick sighed, which helped me already see where part of his story was going. "When she approached me, I was skeptical about her actually having any feelings for me, but... Christ, I guess I was desperate enough to not care. The biggest red flag should have been when she insisted that I not use a condom, but once again..."

"You were desperate?" I finished off his sentence for him, and he softly mumbled a 'yeah' underneath his breath. It was very clear; he wasn't proud of it.

"...I just wanted to feel like someone actually liked me in that way" Nick's reasoning, while one could possibly call it nothing more than naivety, I just considered it to be incredibly sad that the people of his hometown had been so cruel to him. That feeling only grew in intensity (and a healthy dose of anger) when he continued on. "Turns out, she had only done so to get back at Luke. Some kind of bullshit about how he had turned her down, or whatever"

There really weren't words to say after he was done, as I had never experienced such a devious act against myself. Instead, I just found one of my hands moving to cover one of his that was doing nothing more than idling on his knee, which caused his attention to return to me rather than uncomfortable memories.

" _I_ care about you" I wasn't sure if it was the right time to say that to him, but I felt that he deserved to know. There was clear hesitation reflected in his eyes, words such as 'me too' and 'I care about you' sounded too difficult for him in that moment, too... Vulnerable, after the previous experiences he had in love. But at the very least, he seemed to find something.

"...Thank you" Another one of his hands came to rest over the one I had placed there, a somewhat timid smile being there on his face to emphasise how sincere he was. The moment was short lived, as soon Luke came to join us, his eager attitude unconsciously brightening the mood.

"Hey lovers, how are we doing?" Luke seemed to be addressing the both of us, clearly already under the impression that Nick and I were already at the status of lovers because of how intimate we looked in the moment. Nick luckily seemed to be content to still keep his hand over mine, not retracting it out of fear or anything, which made me happy.

"You done spilling all the secrets you get told?" Nick teased Luke the moment his best friend sat down on the other side of him, and it was clear from the guilty look that Luke gave that both Nick and I had been correct that he was the whistle-blower.

"I... I don't know what you're talking about" Luke tried to shrug it off like we were just being paranoid, but unfortunately for him; Pete was there to back up Nick's claims.

"Luke, you couldn't keep a secret to save your life" Pete laughed heartily, coming to join our trio by sitting in the open spot right next to me. Nick and I chuckled in agreement, and it became obvious that Luke was blushing despite the cold of the night. "Nick, did you tell Prim?"

"Ah, not yet" It seemed the story about Nick's colourful previous relationships wasn't actually why he had come to seek me out, and I tilted my head to peer into his eyes as he conveyed the actual message he was supposed to tell me. "Pete and I sorted things out with each other in terms of dating you. It's kind of awkward, but as long as he and I don't have to kiss each other, I think we'll handle it like adults"

"Aww, and here I thought it would be hot if you and Luke kissed" I admitted one of my particular interests in the game (after all, I found both cute, so my mind thought it would be double cute if they both kissed), and I laughed as Luke pretended to try and kiss Nick. Nick wasn't particularly enamoured with the idea, taking one of his hands away from mine to push his friends face away from him. "I'm just kidding you two, I wouldn't make you do anything you're not comfortable with"

"Good, Nick sucks at kissing" Luke laughed into Nick's hand that was covering his mouth, even going so far as to lick it to make his best friend move it away out of disgust. "And before you ask, I know that from a game of spin the bottle we played back in high school"

"It sucked tremendously, after that the girls only wanted us two to kiss" Nick sighed, rolling his eyes dramatically as he wiped his now saliva ridden hand off on his pants. Pete decided to remain silent, allowing both boys to speak for themselves and not interjecting with his own embarrassing stories about either man... And Nick seemed to really appreciate that.

"I have pleasant news; Sarah is perfectly content with me dating, as much as it surprised me a little. She just doesn’t want to have to call Prim ‘mother’, as she isn’t sure how to process that in this current time” Carlos came along to us, a smile on his face as he delivered the good news. Pete, Luke and Nick did look a little surprised with the fourth addition to my potential lovers, but weren’t voicing any objections to it.

“That’s amazing to hear” I happily accepted the news, gesturing to the other side of Pete for him to join us if he so wished. “You didn’t miss much over here to be honest”

“I did hear something about kissing?" Carlos asked us as he neared us, also cosying himself up in our quintet by sitting on the other side of Pete. All three men who had been there before waved the subject away, clearly spelling out that it wasn't important. The five of us sat there for a little bit, enjoying the warmth of the fire they had made, watching over the others in our group. To my delight, I could notice that Clementine and Sarah had invited Duck to join them, Sam also coming along to see if they could spot any of the stars left in the sky. Alvin and Rebecca, after putting away all of the food that we had worked to get, the both of them giving each other loving looks as they worked together to prepare the food for that night. All in all, it seemed peaceful. "...This is lovely, isn't it?"

"It is" I agreed with Carlos' sentiment, feeling like my heart was swimming with those feelings of comfort and love like I always would in my previous group. It truly did fit the meaning of the home being where the heart was... And my heart always belonged with those that I loved.


	16. Friends on the Other Side

In all ways imaginable, the following six weeks were calm and peaceful. We did have the odd awkward interaction with Pete and Nick, the former often veering away from me if he could notice Nick alongside me, but that shortly got sorted the moment Nick reminded him that he didn't have to tiptoe around him.

Within four weeks, my arm started to heal tremendously. Carlos removed the stitches out of my arm once he decided that my body no longer required the help, and only two weeks later my arm seemed to be completely new. Now, the only thing that would indicate my unfortunate interaction with that glass pane was a thin scar running along my left bicep... Which frankly, I thought matched the similar scar on my left hip nicely. As Luke had said (both in the game and in that new reality), scars were far better than stumps, and they told a vivid tale of both my time with the cabin group and the group from the first season.

It was one morning when I could make out a bridge in the distance that my mind returned to planning for the confrontation between Carver's group and mine. By that point Nick, Clementine, Duck and I had been conversing and trying to figure out how to successfully get the others to believe my knowledge of the future. I had certainly gambled by telling Nick from the beginning that I could tell the future, but that didn't mean that it was going to go so well if I tried to explain it to the others... As he was a special case because of his mother's stories.

"I've hinted to Carlos about possibly being an entire world away, but I'm not sure how he would equate that with seeing into the future" I whispered between Nick, trying to figure something out between the both of us before we would inevitably be told to cross the bridge. Clementine was busy perching herself on a nearby rock, using binoculars to see ahead of us what we would be encountering across the bridge, but I didn't need to listen to her report to know what there was ahead.

"You know that I'm there to back you up when you eventually tell them, but it's likely not going to make much difference" Nick admitted that while he wholeheartedly believed me by then, he wasn't so sure about the others believing in things outside the scope of known reality. "What you need to do is prove to them that you can see into the future. Like, make a prediction that there is no possible way of knowing about beforehand"

"Is that something I just tell everyone, or should we be slowly integrating people?" I knew very little about actually revealing what I knew, as the first season had managed to uncover a lot of the things I had done in the background, and they had all confronted me about it together. In all seriousness, I was quite inexperienced with convincing a group of people that I was both all-seeing and not loony.

"I'd say the more important people to convince are Luke and Carlos; they make most of the decisions on where we are going as it is" Nick did have a point, as both men were equivalent to Kenny and Lilly in terms of importance in that group. He seemed like he was going to say more on the subject, when he noticed that Carlos and Luke had turned to the rest of the group to announce what we were going to be doing. "I can try to work on Pete when he and I have a moment, but it may need a bit more than me in terms of him"

"I'm not exactly sure on how I feel about crossing that bridge ahead, but Luke and I have decided that it is for the best that we are travelling over it" Carlos explained the gist of the plan, and I could already see him gearing up to suggest that a smaller group travel over it. I was more than happy with that idea, but the only problem I could foresee was how I was supposed to convince both leaders to come with me. "Luke's leading a smaller team over the bridge to make sure it's safe before the others join them"

"I was hoping to take Prim. You know, letting her use her left arm normally again" Luke made it clear that he was hoping that I would be the one joining him, but didn't make any other remarks to people joining. Rebecca did roll her eyes, giving me a wink to signify that she was quite certain that I was being brought along for far more reasons than medical ones.

"I can come too" Nick already offered himself up to come with, readying his rifle with a sharp _clack_ as he reloaded it. I could see the beginning of Luke refuting that idea, but I interjected before he could say no.

"Actually, I think we should be moving in a four person team, so Nick coming along would be great" I started to give some nonsensical explanation, as I wanted at the very least to have the tan man coming with us. If he came along, then the chances of him nervously assuming Matthew on the bridge to be an enemy would be reduced significantly. Plus, it would reassure me to have someone with me who didn't think I was insane if I started to talk about the future. "And for the final person... How about Carlos?"

"Oh! Uh..." Carlos seemed surprised to be suggested to come with us, looking a little unsure about coming with the three of us. I had apparently done a good enough job of making it sound like it was a complete coincidence, as nobody questioned why I wanted those three... Then again, they may have not said anything for another reason. "...I'm not actually that good at handling lurkers without a gun"

"Then it's a perfect time to practice" Nick saw the extra opportunity to steal Carlos away from the others, even going so far as to gently tug along the reluctant doctor. "Pete, kids, take care of Alvin and Rebecca for us until we signal for you guys to come over"

Both members of that couple made scoffing noises and subsequent protests about how they didn't _need_ the protection, but we could all tell it was all in good jest. Pete gave us all a familiar smile and wave, softly uttering that we should be safe and take care of one another. Before long, we had arrived near the beginning of the bridge, with two walkers standing between us and progressing over the bridge.

"One for Carlos, and one for Prim" Luke decided that it was best to give some walker felling experience over to some of the more rusty members of that quartet, and I started to stretch my muscles slightly in preparation for using my fire axe. "Which one do you guys want?"

Just like in the game, there was a single walker that was slumped against a rock who had seemingly lost his legs, while the other was casually walking around in search of its next meal. Carlos seemed to look slightly relieved when I indicated that I was going for the more able bodied one out of the two, him splitting off from me to get the other one. With Luke and Nick in the wings in case anything went wrong, I moved forward.

It always surprised me to see that the walkers had quite a sharp sense of smell, as it seemed to sense my presence immediately despite me standing behind it for most of the time. As it turned around to start lumbering my way, it seemed like such a trivial thing to swing my axe back and let loose against it, a single swipe that clean cleaved its head in two.

"Holy shit" Luke let out his impressed nature with how easily I had handled it, and only a moment later did Carlos stab the other one in the head, leaving the way open for us. "When you said that you were good with that axe with yours, you weren't kidding"

"Thank you, thank you" I played up how much I had put on a show for the rest of them, despite the fact it had not been the most impressive thing I had ever accomplished; that was still held by the time I had handled a group of thirty walkers a year prior. "I take my prizes in the form of love and affection"

I could hear a myriad of laughter coming from the three of them, enjoying the momentary escape through comedy. But even after everything was handled in that moment, I could spy Nick behind the two of them, gesturing to the two other men with his head. He knew as well as I that we were better off talking about it now rather than later, so I swallowed the fear in the back of my mind and started to talk about it.

"Speaking of being good at things, would you guys believe me if I said I had an almost unnatural level of predicting skills?" I asked the both of them, which earned me differing responses. Luke looked naturally a little confused, but Carlos had a thoughtful look on his face in contrast... Akin to the one that several others had given me in the past, where they were beginning to slot together differing pieces of the puzzle that I had presented them with.

"You mean, like a really good gut instinct?" Luke asked me, and I was honestly really tempted to take that easy way out. But sadly, good gut instincts wouldn't be able to explain away everything, so it wasn't viable at all.

"...Not really, but if that makes it easier for you to understand, then sure" I was extremely vague about what I was trying to say, the only concrete answer that I gave was that his first guess was wrong. True to what I had expected, Luke seemed to be confused by the roundabout way of saying it, but it did seem to add another puzzle piece for Carlos. "But I'm going to make a prediction right now, so listen close; there’s going to be a man at the end of this bridge who will meet us"

"You think so?" Carlos probed a little bit, his question clearly not going for my wording but instead trying to figure out how certain I was about my prediction.

"I _know_ so" I pointedly put emphasis on the fact that I knew that the timeline wouldn't have been altered that much in the meantime, and my certainty seemed to be taken seriously by Carlos. Whether he would believe me or not, I at least was getting the strong impression that the Doctor was getting far closer to the truth than he had been before. "Also, don't walk on the wooden planks as we cross this bridge. I don't trust them"

While a little stern in my insistence, all three men accompanying me obeyed my orders. We all walked on one side of the bridge, specifically using the faded red metal as a more supportive walkway than the creaking wood. It was when we could spy some walkers crawling their way out of some overturned cars that my reasoning became clear, as before they could even reach us all three of them broke through a double set of planks, plummeting either into the water below or onto some sharp pointed metal hanging on the underside of the bridge.

"Jesus" Even Nick had to agree that the grisly thought of dying so easily because of the infrastructure was not a pleasant one, his eyes even turning for a moment to the sky to see if it was going to wobble like I had told him that it would do in any other situation. It didn't move a single inch, as nobody was really destined to die that way, but it certainly seemed to make Carlos finally speak up.

"Prim, wait" Despite his words being very gentle, there was a firm strength behind his tone that told me that he didn't want to have this conversation later; he wanted to have it now. It sounded like I was going to have "that" talk with these guys sooner than I had with the people with the first season, but I supposed it was time. "Something is not quite... Not quite normal with what you're claiming"

"What do you mean?" It was a little odd to hear those words coming from Luke first, as most other people would have thought that it would have come from Nick or I in an effort to hide the truth. But no, my silence seemed to further drill in that something was different from the norm.

"First Prim talks about being an entire world away from home, pointedly so after she talks about the blue comet" Carlos began to tick things off on his hand, starting with the obvious one that I had specifically told him about. "Secondly, Luke, you know that Nick keeps secrets better than a mute man, so how would she actually have heard about Carver from him?"

...Oh, that was actually a new one. To cover for me, Nick had said that he had already told me about Carver, which countered the typical idea that he kept secrets well. Then again, he had been very forward about some aspects of his own history... But still, Carlos had a legitimate point that Nick was not a casual blabbermouth.

"Hey, yeah" It seemed to be that Luke was finally arriving to the same conclusion that Carlos was, if only in regards to his best friend. After all, he was a bit dense, but not stupid. "And why did you look up just now?"

"I-

"Because I told him in the past that if I save somebody's life, the sky wobbles" It was my turn to come to Nick's defence, as he had already done his best to be there for me in so many ways. Ignoring the extremely confused faces being directed my way from the two who were out of the loop (and one grateful one from Nick, as he honestly seemed like he was unsure how he was supposed to lie about his specific choice to glance at the sky), I pressed onward. "As much as it sounds completely insane, I can predict several things that are going to happen. This is because... Well, the blue comet brought me here after I wished to save people in this world"

Thankfully, all three men present knew about the blue comet nursery rhyme in that world, so I didn't have to answer the obvious questions about what on earth that was about. It was such a well-known one that even adults still kept it buried in the back of their heads, even if they weren't reciting it to their children to pass it on.

"A person coming from another world because of the blue comet? That's ridi..." I could hear Luke begin to shrug it off as mere nonsense, but the moment he glanced over to his best friend and saw the serious look reflected back at him, he seemed to hesitate. A specific memory seemed to play in his mind, as soon Nick's own reasoning reappeared in a different manner than before. "...Wait a moment. Didn't your mum always tell some kind of story about... About..."

Luke couldn't seem to find the right words to finish it, but I knew by then what the story was about. The story talked about a hero arriving from another world because of the blue comet, specifically to save people. Luke likely hadn't heard the more intricate details about it - how it was a girl with brown hair who was going to be Nick's future wife - but the very fact he knew about it made him question just how unbelievable my claim was. After all, how much more outlandish was it that a person could predict the future compared to exclusively believing in some blue rock shooting through the sky which could grant wishes?

"Dios mio, como..." Carlos on the other hand, seemed to be reverting back to his original language of Spanish out of sheer shock that his mind was going through. He couldn't deny (like Nick had realised) that the sky had been acting strange for... Well, frankly, over two years. And he himself had been gathering little details together about how my behaviour was a little too convenient for just luck, but he seemed to still want more proof from me. "I... Say something. Say something that you shouldn't know about then"

I paused momentarily, thinking in my mind about something that I could pull out that proved my claims. I had already used the one about the man across the bridge, and I couldn't talk about their personal history because the game had never gone that far into detail with their life before the world ended. But even so, there were some things that I could find.

"There was a man who was supposed to escape with you from Carver's community, wasn't there? Reggie. But as you guys were escaping, he fell and you didn't have time to go back for him" I picked one of the memories that I could distinctly remember from the game, something that the player only learned about in the third episode from Sarah. Surely enough, the returning shocked looks on their faces told me that I was right, so I searched for some more. "Furthermore, there was a girl called Bonnie who was supposed to come with you guys, but she changed her mind before the actual attempt. And-

"That's enough, you don't have to go on" Luke gently halted my verbal tidal-wave of information by gently placing his hand on my shoulder, which did a good job of stopping me. While some truly stubborn people could have gone on believing that I was reciting nonsense; that I was nothing more than a deranged stalker, it seemed that they were not those kinds of people. "Carlos?"

"...This goes against everything I have ever known as a man of science" Carlos almost seemed like he wanted to bend double, placing his hands on his knees as though to reassure himself that he was still there... That this wasn't some kind of weird dream he was experiencing. It was only when he lifted his constantly tired eyes that he saw my posture; uncertainty, and a strong hope that he was going to believe me. With an extremely long sigh, he seemed to make up his mind. "...But then again, walking corpses also did go against everything I have ever known"

"Don't worry, Prim is still here to help us all" Nick decided to smooth over some of the rougher edges of the conversation by softly entering into the conversation, reminding both men that I was still the kind person who cared about them. "And I can guarantee personally that her personality isn't going to do some sudden flip on you; she's still exactly the same person she was before she told me"

"Well, that's not entirely true; I only became more affectionate afterwards" I did slightly correct Nick's statement, but by the massive grin on my face and the tone of my voice everyone could tell that it was me using a joke to lighten the heavy mood. "But seriously, I didn't just come here to save just anyone; I came here to save _you guys_ "

"...We're going to die?" Carlos still seemed a little frazzled, but luckily Luke seemed to come along just like his best friend to help him recover.

"To be fair, dying is a real possibility in this world as it is" Luke did have a point, as even without my words reminding them of it, dying was always a possibility in whatever world you lived in... But especially that one. "But if we have some kind of super hero from another world coming to save the day, hey; I'm not complaining"

Carlos let out a single note of laughter at the phrasing that Luke had used, but he still seemed completely overwhelmed with this news. I moved toward him and stood on my tiptoes so that I was able to wrap my hands securely around his neck, giving him an intimate hug to remind him that none of this would change how I felt about him. When he wrapped his arms around my back, I could hear him softly grumble into the crook of my neck (something he had done regularly in the six weeks when we would cuddle), so I knew that things would be alright.

It seemed Luke was right back to his old self as well, wrapping both of his sturdy arms and attempting to lift the both of us at the same time with a cheeky grin present all over his face. It was only when I giggled heartily and Carlos very nearly shrieked in fright that Nick pointedly reminded his best friend that being loud wasn't going to help us at all.

"Right, we still need to get over this bridge" Being sufficiently told off for one day, Luke lowered both Carlos and I back down onto the metal of the bridge, before looking off into the distance. "So, we're looking for some guy who will meet us halfway on this bridge?"

"Yeah, he'll be wearing a... Black hoodie, I believe" I absentmindedly started to recite what Matthew likely would be wearing, having my back to the other side of the bridge momentarily. "There's likely going to be a rifle in his hands, but he's not really antagonistic"

"Well, I sure hope so, because he's walking towards us" For the first time, it was I who was startled by someone else words, Luke pointing off to someone likely walking in our direction. My first instinct was to gently move the barrel of Nick's rifle downwards, confusing him slightly because he wasn't really planning on shooting it in the first place, before I calmly turned myself down.

Luke was right; there was a man slowly making his way towards us on the bridge. From what I could make out of his features, it did look like it was Matthew, but he had paused for a moment when I had turned around.

"Are you guys armed?" We could all just make out him asking us that, taking particular note to not yell but also be loud enough so that we could hear each other without having to speak much.

"We are, but we're not planning on using them" I decided to take over speaking for the group for multiple reasons. Not only was I the one who knew the most about what could go wrong if the wrong words were chosen in that moment, but it had often happened in the past that my feminine voice reassured people faster than some random man. "What's your name? I'm Primrose, this is Carlos, and they are Luke and Nick"

"You certainly seem like a merry bunch, if I was seeing your antics correctly earlier" He responded, and there wasn't much I could say against that beyond shrugging my shoulders. We certainly were comfortable with one another, and I didn't see why I had to hide that from him. "I'm Matthew by the way, pleased to meet you. If you mind staying still for a bit, I can come closer"

"Sounds fine to me" I agreed to the terms as it sounded relatively simple. Even as he approached, I could feel the three men flanking me press in closer, as though the movement brought them some comfort. With a gentle pat to several of their shoulders (and chest, for Nick behind me), I tried to reassure them that I knew things would work out with this man.

It only took him a minute to reach us, and it seemed our closer proximity relaxed several people on either side. He was relatively well groomed considering the end of the world, only really having some bits of black facial hair smoothly accentuating his face compared to the wild locks that the three men with me had. But most of all, it was his gentle eyes that seemed to remind us that not everyone was trigger happy in the new world.

"Sorry about the gun; you can never be too sure about strangers" Matthew apologised for the weapon in his hands, effectively explaining why he hadn't put it away. After all, we were all still essentially strangers to each other even though we knew names. Even I knew very little about him, as the game had given me about the same amount of screen time with him as it had with Mr. Parker... Who honestly, turned out to be quite the fence sitter. "Is this all of you?"

"No, we have three kids and three adults waiting to come across" I decided at the last minute to not gesture to where they were hiding, as that was unimportant in the long run. It seemed that Matthew appreciated my honesty, as he smiled and relaxed a little. "Also a dog, but he's well trained"

"Honestly, if you were to ask my partner, you're all kids compared to him" He cracked a bit of a joke, as I supposed that Walter in the lodge did not look the same age as Luke, Nick or I. Even Carlos, despite his bedraggled appearance and insomniac eyes did not look as grey as he did. "But hey, you're welcome to some of the food we have stored away if you would like some"

"That's... Wow, thank you" Carlos seemed astounded to hear the offer of food, especially considering the fact we had essentially admitted that we had a total of eleven mouths to feed. We certainly weren't going to turn it down, especially not when I gave him a sly wink that said 'see, I told you so'.

"We would offer you a bed to sleep as well, but frankly we're quite full with a big group already" Matthew explained that part of their reasoning, which did make me pause for a brief second. I couldn't remember there being a large group already at the ski lodge in the game, and I knew that there was no way that Carver's group could have been faster than us to reach it...

...Huh, I guess it was just some random group. While the universe didn't like to alter itself easily, I couldn't think of what I had done that would equal a group landing in the ski lodge.

"It's already kind enough to offer food to us" Luke assured him that we weren't looking a gift horse in the mouth, already pleased enough to receive the help in terms of feeding the group. While it did make me a little bit nervous in terms of how I was supposed to prepare some kind of trap for the group coming after us, I would likely sort something out. "I'll just signal for our friends to come across the bridge, and we'll be more than happy to follow you"


	17. Homecoming Queen

Some of our group clearly were having more difficulty in conquering the slope that we had to clamber up, as Matthew had stated that he was 'not so heartless to make us eat in the cold'; leading us to eat within the warmth of their lodge even if we didn't stay beyond that. It became obvious however that Rebecca was having the most difficulty, and I wasn't surprised; her extra weight that she was carrying usually wreaked havoc on her back as it was.

"...Good lord" Rebecca heaved a bit as we reached what seemed to be the last part of the slope, her being flanked by her supportive husband and Carlos to give her help if she needed it. While she was generally a proud woman who 'didn't need no man', she was leaning heavily on Alvin as she took a momentary break. "Honestly, my back could use a rest..."

"I'd offer to carry you, but I don't think that would go that well on a slope like this" I meant well with the offer, and luckily she seemed to bypass the fact that I had said she had gained weight, focusing more on the fact that I was being a team player.

"Don't you dare young lady" Rebecca did her best to give me her typical sarcastic tone despite her loss of breath, and I could spy the cheek that she was displaying as usual. "Just because you are figuratively carrying this group, does not mean that you should be _literally_ carrying it"

I giggled cheekily in response to that remark, not at all being worried about how much responsibility I had taken over from most people. If it was entirely left up to me, I would be doing ninety percent of the work... But I had also learnt by then that I had to let other people help me lest I cause damage to myself in the physical or mental sense. Luckily for me, pretty much everyone in the cabin group had learned by then that I needed the support more often that I would say it aloud, the eleven of us working well in tandem with each other.

"Nice wind turbine" Pete remarked as we neared the ski lodge, the older man out of our group noticing the spinning construct in the wind. I made a mental note to remind Matthew or Walter to switch it off before the storm came around, as I wasn't keen on dealing with a gigantic thrumming construct that would draw the dead in our direction. "Does it power this entire building?"

"It certainly does" Matthew proudly talked about it, even looking in its direction with a fond look in his eye. It didn't seem to be down to what the machine actually was, but more down to the memories that it naturally would invoke when looking at it... Which I could understand quite intimately myself, as my picture of Lee would reproduce the same sort of result no matter how long it had been. "It's kind of ironic; I had told Walter long ago that it was a waste of time for the owners of this lodge to put it around here. I had blamed it on his very hippie oriented lifestyle at the time, but it seems to have been nothing but a blessing"

"Sounds like you've been with Walter for a long time" Alvin noticed the fact that the Asian man was referring to memories long before the end of the world, which implied that the two of them hadn't met each other by coincidence.

"I was his student at one point, if you can believe it" Matthew gently gestured for us to follow after him, directing us over to the wooden porch at the back of the lodge. Something that I had never really noticed in the past was the discarded sign that I had to step over, it telling all visitors and strangers that the lodge was affectionately referred to as Moonstar Lodge... Huh, it would have been topical if it had been labelled 'Blue Comet' Lodge. "You should have seen some of my classmates faces when we started dating a couple years after I graduated"

Alvin seemed a little startled at the admission from Matthew, as he clearly had been thinking in terms of heteronormativity (i.e. that Walter was his father, brother, cousin or close friend). I just found myself grinning like an absolute idiot, as one of my personal canon pairings had been proven without a doubt. 'The walking dead doesn't have a gay couple before the fourth season' my ass; I wish I could have rubbed that in Michael's (one of my old stupid college friends) stupid face right about then.

"Oh, you're a couple! That's quite interesting to note" Carlos seemed quite chipper to hear about how Matthew and Walter were partners, something that both seemed to smooth over the sudden confused look from Alvin and made the former out of the aforementioned couple to turn his head back with a smile on his face. "Some of us are actually in a polyamorous relationship currently, and the majority of us have history with family members who were somewhere on the differing sexuality spectrum"

"Good to hear, as we've got a couple of other people in our current lodgers that are gay and bisexual" I very nearly found myself responding with a cheeky 'same' to Matthew's remark about the orientation of the people staying with him, but I kept it to myself so that it didn't sound like I was talking over his explanation. There always was another time to spout how loving I was to several genders. "Oh, speaking of things from our current lodgers, I should mention that they have two animals with them that can be a bit excitable. If they mistake you for a walker, then they may charge at you"

"Animals?" Luke asked him, a tinge of excitement bordering in his voice. After all, if they were more dogs, then both he and the other dog loving people (as well as Sam, the pup could use the interaction) would love to meet and play with them. "What kind are they?"

"Whatever they are, I hope they get along well with Sam here" I spoke fondly to the dog rubbing affectionately alongside my right side, with me petting him right between the ears, scratching one of the spots that I knew that he liked. It seemed that my sudden choice to speak up caused some kind of change, as soon I could hear the sound of... Something, coming from around the corner of the Moonstar lodge.

Matthew got interrupted in his explanation of the type of species that the animals were, with the sudden feeling of the wooden deck wobbling underneath our feet. The shuddering caused several of us in our own group to huddle in collective groups, as I could soon feel Sam wrap around my feet while the kids came closer. It became obvious quite shortly afterward that the shaking was not down to a sudden earthquake, as it came in several timed increments... Closer to the feeling of some large creature stomping their way toward us.

"Heel! Heel!" I could hear someone hurriedly try to call back their animals, before two massive cows seemed to come barrelling around the corner of the lodge. One of them was a bull, with absolutely astounding horns decorating his head, and right beside that bull was a perky female; the both of them seemingly making a beeline for me after they had heard my voice. "Bramble, Maybelle, I said _heel_!!"

As I became even more startled by the extreme coincidence of the cows having the same names as the two cows I had been caring for two years prior, I could find myself doing nothing more than bracing myself for being bashed into by both creatures... Only to have both cattle stop directly in front of me.

"I'm so, so sorry about that" Matthew already started to apologise for the two bovine's behaviours, even trying to gently direct their faces away from mine. They were extremely resistant to being moved away, returning their heads in my direction and gently sniffling my shoulders and hair. "They're... They're usually not so keen on strangers"

...But naturally, I wasn't a stranger to them. With slight confusion in my mind and trepidation in my movements, I lifted one of my hands to the snout of the bull. He snuffled my hand very loudly, before licking it in what seemed to be an affectionate gesture. As I pet his head, I turned to look over at the female who had accompanied him, and I wasn't surprised at all to see that she gave my left hip a gentle bump of the head.

"...Maybelle?" Even after I had heard the confirmation that it was truly her name, I still called it out as if to reinforce the idea within my own mind. This wasn't just any Maybelle, she was _my_ Maybelle; something that only seemed to become more true when she did a little excited dance as she kept bumping various parts of my body. And when I looked back over to the bull, even with two years making him grow to an astonishing new size, I could recognize several of the black blotches dotting over his white skin. "Bramble, you've gotten so big"

As though he was agreeing with me, he snuffled and tried to rub his head against my shoulder, taking special care to not hit me with his new horns. By that point even the kids seemed to understand that these two were the same ones from two years ago, softly petting their noses as the bovines got reacquainted with them. Sam too, as he was curious enough to smell their hooves when they remained stationary.

The other members of the cabin group started to come forward, naturally curious and confused in equal amounts as to this new development. While they started to chatter with the kids about why we recognised these cows, my mind was leaping several steps ahead. The last time we had seen them was two years prior after all, when the group from the first season had been attacked by that exceedingly massive group of scavengers. Even if those scavengers had taken the cows afterwards, then their names would have likely been changed into something else rather than remaining as they were before (hell, they probably wouldn't even have been able to figure out _what_ their names were in the first place). So... The person who was calling them by their names...

"It's about time you got here, these two nearly bowled this poor girl over!" Matthew seemed to lecture the person coming around the corner, their face being momentarily blocked from me because of the two cows. My curiosity got the better of me, letting me gently part the two excited heads of the cows... To see a familiar black and grey mullet right in front of me, with his familiar handlebar moustache being even further accentuated by his magnificent beard.

"Sorry Matt, they usually are much better behaved" Kenny apologised for the cows darting away from him, his eyes remaining on Matthew for a long time to accentuate how sincere he was about his apology. It was only when he finally turned his head away from his compatriot to the 'poor girl' that his voice seemed to be caught in his throat, trailing off in utter shock. "I'll..."

We were trapped for a moment, enraptured by the sight of each other. If the disbelief in his eyes was anything to go by, then it seemed that I was not the only one to believe that the other had died. It was only when Luke said something that the spellbound effect on us seemed to vanish, cementing in our minds that no; this was _not_ a dream.

"...Wait, Prim, you _know_ this guy?" Luke asked me, as of course the stories I had told him about my old group had never gone into describing what anybody had looked like. Even if I had never told him that I was certain of the other's demise, I suppose that Nick, Luke, Pete and Carlos had never imagined one of my former group members to look like an absolute hick. But... Damn it, I didn't care what he looked like.

"KENNY!!" I cried out in pure joy, running directly between the small gap in between the two cattle towards him. He seemed to have not missed a beat of what I would do, as he moved the rifle in his arms out of the way just in time to catch me barrelling into him, the two of us wrapping each other in a warm embrace. As I pressed my head into the crook of his shoulder, I could smell vague remnants of oil, rust and gunpowder... Which honestly, were usually disgusting to my nose; but I loved them in that moment simply for who I had associated them with. It seemed as if the beard wasn't the only thing that was new 

"Christ Prim, I..." Kenny still seemed for a loss, struggling to find the right words to say to me. After all, one would think that two years and a heavy belief that the other was dead would make one endlessly dream about what one would say to the other if they saw them again... But it seemed as if it was still not so easy to find the right words. "Hold on, let me get a good look at you"

With that, he gently peeled me away from him, holding me at arm's length to stare lovingly at me. It didn't take long for his hands to wander upwards from my shoulders until they delicately started to rearrange my flurried hair and nestled either cheek in their rugged grip.

"...God, you're just as beautiful as the day I lost you" He seemed to pile endless praise onto me, and it did the trick by making my eyes misty. Even so, there was still that cheeky bone in my body, so I took the opportunity that was presented to me.

"And you look like an old man" I teased him, and the immediate tender laughter leaving his throat was all worth it. "I... Jesus Kenny, I thought you were dead"

"You're telling me. I guess I should have known better than to doubt you, huh?" Kenny reminded me of the fact that he too had likely been wandering around for two years without me, and it suddenly felt like it had been far too long since I had heard his reassuring southern drawl. Now sufficiently checked out, Kenny pulled me back in for another intimate hug between us, which I gladly sank back into. We could have remained there for a good while longer, if it wasn't for Matthew deciding to interject before we stayed out for several hours longer.

"Is this the Prim you guys had all been talking about for so long?" Matthew asked the Floridian, and earned an easy affirming nod from the latter. "I knew that the name Primrose sounded familiar! I guess I was just... You guys always said she was dead, so I didn't want to get your hopes up"

"For what it's worth, Prim thought they were dead as well" Nick piped up around then, and it was then that Kenny seemed to pick up that I had once again given permission for my special nickname to be passed out to other people. Far from reacting jealously to it, he just found himself grinning cheekily at me.

"Still got the charm that can sway anyone, eh?" He asked me, and my only response was to giggle in a flirtatious manner. Thankfully he hadn't referred to it as the 'charming anyone's pants off' variant, as I wasn't sure how Sarah would have reacted to that if she had heard it. It was around then that Clementine and Duck saw their opportunity to come forward as well, wrapping the older man in their own double-barrelled hug. "And you also kept the kids perfectly safe without us, why am I not surprised in the slightest?"

"We kept each other safe" Clementine corrected his statement, which made Kenny laugh and apologise in a joking manner for assuming so much. He certainly seemed to be surprised at how much the two kids had grown in the meantime, finding that Duck was 'a little too tall' for his liking.

"I, um... It's lovely to meet you" Pete tried to politely introduce himself, but I could detect a slight air of uncertainty around him. Not just him, as the other members of the cabin group seemed unsure what to make of this new development. This didn't seem to be reflected by Kenny, as he was too blissfully happy to be worried about such a thing, but it still meant that integrating the two different groups into one was likely not going to be as easy as I had first guessed it to be. "Prim often talked fondly about you guys"

"I'm really glad to hear that" Kenny spoke honestly, regarding the seven lingering people as nothing more than possible new additions to the family. "Ah, shoot, where are my manners? Come in, it's going to get real cold in a second when the storm blows over us"

"...You're sure that you are not bothered by us joining you?" Carlos asked, as he could likely see that we were going to have some slight hiccups if we came in. After all, Matthew had not invited the eleven of us in the cabin group to stay for the night, which meant that they were certain that getting kicked out after their meal was a big possibility.

"Of course not, any friends of Prim are friends to me as well" Kenny gestured for everyone to follow after him, and I could notice the slight uncertainty in my four new lover's faces. After all, they were not just 'friends' to me, so their anxiety of being in a polyamorous relationship seemed to flare up for the very first time. "Maybelle, Bramble, come!"

It seemed to be completely unnecessary for him to command them to follow behind him, as they naturally did so when they saw that I was going with him. It was as if the good old magic of them following me was still in effect, and I found myself naturally petting them as we entered into the ski lodge.

The grand lodge was decorated head to toe in extravagant Christmas lights, as no doubt Sarita had a bunch of extra hands with my group from the first season being there. In fact, I could spot several of them busying themselves with tinsel, lights and other corny decorations, the majority of them keeping their heads turned away due to not being worried about the new guests. Even the few that did have a look seemed to momentarily miss me in the sea of new people joining them, perhaps even dejectedly telling themselves that they had mistaken some other random woman for me. The two who weren't doing something were playing with a small child in front of the roaring fireplace, Omid and Christa lovingly attending what seemed to be a tiny girl.

"Hey guys, guess what I found!" Kenny called out to everyone gathered around the place, and it was only then that all fourteen heads turned to see what the commotion was about. Naturally most people were looking at Kenny first, thinking that he was exaggerating about some minor thing, but one person did seem to glance at the lady walking beside him.

"...Prim?" Lilly leaned over the banister on the second floor of the lodge, peering at me with a sense of growing hope. She wanted to make sure that she wasn't mistaking me for someone else, as the mistake undoubtedly hurt more than just assuming that I was not her old lover. But lo and behold, I smiled radiantly at her and waved in an affectionate manner, which truly hammered it home. "Oh my god, Prim!"

With that she began to hurriedly descend the staircase, taking a bit of care to not stumble down it at the last moment, before she swept me up into her arms. Using her superior height and muscles to lift me up, I found myself shrieking out of both slight surprise at her movement and from utter delight in seeing her. Rather than wait to have a look at me first, she reached forward and kissed me softly, letting her movements show just how much she had missed me rather than words.

"Jesus, I never thought I would see the day" Travis soon came along with Ben flanking him, looking fully like a grown up in the two years I had missed him. He had seemingly done his best to look the same as before, with only a slight scar running vertically over his left eye and slightly longer flowing black hair to indicate the difference since then. When Lilly eventually placed me down, I soon noticed that she too had gone for a slightly different look, her long hair tied away into a ponytail.

"I missed you two as well" I gladly gave Ben and him a sweeping hug, finding the growth of proper facial hair on the former's face to be a handsome new addition. Even more, Ben seemed completely confident with his attached hook, carefully pulling some sort of lever so that the hook was shifted out of the way to avoid harm.

"I knew it! I just knew it!" Glenn hadn't given up on thinking that I was alive, Doug coming along with a slight chuckle to note just how right his friend had been this entire time. Glenn had since grown out his black hair to a length where it legitimately needed to also be placed in a short ponytail lest it get in his way, while Doug... Seemed to look exactly like he had been when I had seen him last, as though it was a conscious choice. "Come here you beautiful bast - um, beautiful lady!"

"Nice save" Mark snorted in a short burst of laughter as he and Shawn came over to join us. While Shawn had grown out his black hair magnificently to resemble a proud lion's mane; Mark had gone the opposite route to carefully carve his black hair and subsequent beard to perfectly accentuate his face, while still keeping the original style that I recognised atop his head. "It's... It's so amazing to see you again"

"You're telling me! I thought you guys were all dead" I agreed with the sentiment that I was absolutely blown away by seeing them all again, hugging each individual person before I turned my head to the two women approaching us. Katjaa didn't seem all that different beyond wearing a bright colourful flannel shirt, her motherly aura only slightly changed from the tears threatening to spill over. I didn't mind it at all that Duck was the first one to storm forward and hug her, as they deserved that. But beside her, was Carley, who had slightly grown out her own hair to make it a beautiful wave of brown hovering around her back. "Carley, you look radiant"

"So do you" She happily embraced me, the both of us quite nicely matching each other with our long flowing locks mingling with each other’s. Carley released me a little too early for my liking, but I quickly noticed why when I glanced over to the final couple making their way over to me. Christa was cradling the little girl in her hands, who was staring up at me with curious eyes. "Ah, of course. This is the first time you've met the little one"

"Hello little one, what's your name?" I could only assume it was Christa and Omid's child (further accentuated by her having the same shade of skin and dark hair colour as Omid), and I was endlessly relieved to see that she had been brought into this world unharmed. She seemed to be about two years old by her appearance, and it seemed that full sentences were a little hard for her now and then, as she focused more on the first word in it rather than the question it represented.

"Hi!" She cheerily greeted me, which could only serve to make me smile with how cute she was. Omid gently got her attention, before pointing back over to me to teach her something.

"Rose, this is Primrose" Omid told the little child who I was, and I found myself distracted quite heavily by the name they had decided to give her. After all, the game showed quite clearly that Omid wasn't very serious about naming his child, so naming her Rose... "She's the lady we named you after. You've heard us talk about Prim before, right?"

"Prim!" Rose recited the name, seemingly for no other reason than recognising the name. Omid still proceeded to point at me, which caused her to look confused at her father and then myself, still not completely getting it. "Prim?"

"That's it honey, this is Prim" Christa reinforced that little Rose had gotten it right, and I could feel my eyes grow misty again with the emotions coming over me. Christa could notice this easily, her laughing softly to notice that I was still a complete softie like I had been when they had lost me. "If you think that's sweet, just wait until you see what Kenny's wearing"

"Allow me to formally welcome you all to the Moonstar Lodge, considering the fact Kenny seems to have forgotten all of his tact at the moment. I'll let your mutual friend do the introductions for them, she likely knows them much better than I do to be honest" Walter came along to take care of the rest of the cabin group, but not before giving the aforementioned man a teasing jab in the ribs. Kenny let out a considerable grunt of pain, seemingly realising himself that he had gotten carried away considering that I was there... And I supposed that everyone else in the group from the first season found that a good enough reason to excuse the momentary bad behaviour. "I'm Walter, my partner is Matthew and that lovely lady there is Sarita. We have got enough food to feed all of you, and some beds upstairs where you can rest your weary legs while I get it ready"

"Thank you, that sounds like a perfect place to have a bit of a talk about what we're going to be doing next anyway" Luke seemed grateful for the upstairs location, even taking off his weapons and leaving them by the door so that they were being courteous. The six other members also followed suit, before they seemed to head in the direction of the stairs, with Sam following after Pete when the older man called for the canine. "Prim, you coming?"

That statement seemed to make people pause, waiting for me to decide whether I was immediately going with the cabin group or spending a bit more time with those that I hadn't seen for two years. Even Clem and Duck seemed a bit stuck on what they were supposed to do, looking up at me with uncertainty in their eyes... Christ, it was like being thrust into the second game for the very first time; being forced to choose between which groups you would sit with at dinner. Both sides seemed to beg me with their mannerisms and pleading eyes, which really made me feel put on the spot. If I was going to be merging the two groups, then this was certainly _not_ going to be something that I wanted to happen multiple times.

"Ten minutes, alright?" I politely asked Luke for some time before I would join them upstairs, but I could see the heartbreak flit through his eyes for a brief second. He clearly seemed to see it as me picking a side, which I honestly had thought that they knew that I didn't do in terms of love; it went against my polyamorous side after all.

"...Alright" He didn't sound pleased about it, but he allowed it. With a dejected look, him and the others proceeded to move up the staircase, with Nick even lingering a bit at the bottom of the staircase to see whether I would change my mind. When I was gently directed over to the couches and chairs near the roaring fireplace - to which I went - Pete then called for Nick, finally causing the young man to join his other group members.

"We have so much to talk about, I don't even know where to start" Shawn admitted that I had missed quite a bit, and I was inclined to agree considering the fact that I could spy a small neckerchief tied around his neck that didn't look familiar to me. As everyone within that familiar group of eighteen found somewhere comfortable to sit, we fell back into comfortable conversation like we had never been apart in the first place.


	18. Hearth Radiance

Snuggling right in between Carley and Lilly on the couch facing the gently prickling fireplace (other people wanted to sit beside me, but they all did a quick round of rock-paper-scissors to ultimately decide), but the heat coming from the hearth felt like a mere match in contrast to the warmth spreading around my chest. With Duck being placed on Katjaa's lap like old times (he was _just_ getting to be a bit big to fit, but Katjaa was trying her best to accommodate him), and Clementine spending some quality time with Ben and Travis on the floor in front of the fire, it truly felt like we hadn't left at all... Except for the fact that several people looked distinctly different than my memories.

"Let's start with the obvious; where did the three of you even go that night? The last we saw of you was you chasing after those scavengers chasing the kids" Omid rounded us right back to the beginning, as naturally they were curious as to how I had disappeared off the face of the earth with those children. While my own mind was burning with curiosity on how they had survived a fight with a group of fifty people, I supposed that there was no harm in me being the first one to explain.

"It's my fault" Clementine seemed to take it as her fault, her eyes glancing down at the rug carpet underneath her legs rather than people's eyes. Duck looked like he was already preparing to protest that, but I softly reassured him with a wave of the hand that I would be able to handle it. He did care about her as much as I did (some might argue that he did so even more than I did), but she didn't need to be bombarded with information after her admission. "I fell into the river when we were taking care of those guys, and Duck and Prim jumped in to save me"

"It's not your fault Clem. The original timeline of the game dictated that you would fall into the river at some point in time, I just... Hadn't expected it so soon" I made sure that my daughter wasn't seeing our accidental split as her fault, as there was no way I could ever see it as such. Even if it were ultimately because she had been because of her stumble into the water, there was no way that I was going to put the blame squarely on her young shoulders. With her golden eyes lifting a little to meet mine, I was confident that I had told her the entire truth behind that, before I returned to talking to everyone as a group. "In the game - during the second season - Clementine falls into the river and floats downstream after two years, where she would eventually stumble upon the cabin group. As such, I did recognise the situation quite a bit, and I yelled out for you guys to follow after me... But naturally, you all had your hands full enough to not hear me"

"The cabin group? Oh, the people you've come with?" Doug asked me, his eyes glancing over to the staircase that those seven people had ascended. When my eyes naturally followed in the direction that his were looking at, I could spot Sarah staring at us in a sense of childish curiosity. I decided to settle any possible nerves that she had with a smile and a wave, which she happily returned with gusto. Before long it seemed to be that Carlos called for her, so she darted off in the direction of the older members of that respective group. "So that's where you went. No wonder we couldn't find you..."

"You likely didn't see because you darted off before the fighting was settled, but the group of scavengers actually had very little weapons on them. Only about seven or eight of them actually held anything that could cause some harm, so dealing with them wasn't as catastrophic as it first appeared" Lilly took over explaining, as she undoubtedly could tell that my idea of them being dead had come down to the vast horde of enemies that they had been staring down when I had left. I felt... Incredibly silly, to say the least. I had purely based their death on the extreme reaction in the sky wobbling, but when I thought about it a bit more logically... Then the altering of the sky likely came down to the fact that Omid's killer had been one of the girls in that scavenger group, long before that fateful meeting at the bathroom. "When everything was said and done, you and the kids had disappeared into thin air. We spent... We spent weeks just staying in that same area, in the vague hope that you would wander back after getting your collective bearings back"

"...Weeks?" I asked them, the regret clear in my tone of voice. If I had just tried to backtrack to that very same location, I would have found them lingering in that wet patch of woods, doing nothing more than hoping that we would reappear from the brush. Carley could quickly spot beside me that my mind was wandering down the wrong line of thinking, her hands naturally curling around mine to stop those thoughts solidifying. The meaning behind that tender grasp was clear; we all were trying to convey to one another that it wasn't anyone's fault. As horrible as it was, it was a set of poorly timed bad coincidences all lining up with one another, and Katjaa and the teenagers surrounding my two kids were reassuring them of that very same fact.

"After those weeks went by, we decided by majority vote that we should start heading north. Not only were we running low on food, but we thought that maybe we should find out where Parker's Run was, seeing as you had mentioned it by name" Mark took the lull in conversation to start talking as well, even going so far to bring out what seemed to be a hand drawn map that they had collectively made to cover the entire continent of North America. Clearly stencilled along the way North were little notes and symbols, telling me that they had purposefully chosen one of the bigger routes on their way. "We took some of the more obvious routes, hoping that you would be on one of them because of your lack of knowledge of the States. Plus, Lilly wouldn't shut up about how you apparently hate maps"

"She does!" Duck felt it necessary to agree with that statement, and I huffed and put my hands on my shoulders as he just giggled mischievously.

"I hate _American_ maps" I corrected both former military workers and son with a mock stern tone, and it received the response I wanted by making the both of them heartily chuckle at one of my well known flaws by then. It was true; when it came to maps I preferred to leave things up to Duck and Clem during our two year journey without the others... And honestly, the logic of taking the bigger routes to try and find us was perfectly logical. "Unfortunately, I was beelining for the cabin that those seven were hiding in, so we were actually travelling through the wilderness and woods for most of our time"

"Of course; we should have been doing the weird thing instead of the logical thing" Kenny gently poked fun at me, rolling his eyes with a proud grin on his face when I laughed and uttered a half-indignant 'hey!'. Him catching my eye caused me to notice something jingling softly around his neck, it likely being the elusive piece of jewellery that I had felt pressing into my collarbone earlier. Not only that, Christa had mentioned that Kenny was wearing something sweeter than her literal daughter being named after me. And so, with that cheeky bone in my body returning, I decided to flip around the attention straight back to Kenny.

"Speaking of weird things, Christa mentioned that you have something sweet on you?" I made sure to specifically gesture to him, and if the slightly startled look on his face it was clear that he hadn't quite expected me to discover the necklace so soon. With a somewhat shy smile on his face, he gently pulled the faded gold necklace up by its chain, showing a golden flower dangling on it. As it swung around a bit, I could just barely see that there was an inscription on the back. Leaning forward ever so slightly to be able to reach it alright, my hand crept up and gently turned the flower around; reading it as he still proudly wore it beneath his throat. "The primula vulgaris... Wait a moment, that sounds familiar"

"The common primrose" Kenny spelled out what the name meant, something that I also knew simply because of how often I had been told it be my own mother when I had asked her why I was named as I was. It was her favourite flower after all, so the scientific name of it would always be recognisable to me. When my attention returned to him, he offered me not much else beyond a bashful smile and a shrug of the shoulders, but it was (like always) his words that meant the most to me. "I guess... I guess I thought it would be enough to tide me over until the day I got my special Primrose back"

The hand that had been reaching for his necklace naturally found its way upwards until it was softly cupping his chin, while my other one rested over my heart, communicating quite well that I was blown away by the mere gesture that the necklace signified. Even the faded colour of the necklace meant something, as it told me that he had been holding onto it for far longer than just a couple of weeks. The love that we shared easily sparked back into life, his eyes communicating just as easily as mine did the dedication and compassion that we still felt.

"We would have also been wearing one, but unfortunately the gift shop we raided at the time only had the single one" Travis spoke up then, bringing Kenny and my loving gazes towards each other to a close for the time being. "You should have seen his reaction one time when a walker grabbed it by accident"

"He stabbed it twelve times, despite the first two being enough to kill it" Ben happily joined in with teasing the older man, becoming more confident in himself with the missing time. God, I could not have imagined the absolute cheek on his face if I had run into him in the game... Or even from two years ago.

"I thought it was going to eat it" Kenny weakly defended his overreaction to the walker in question, supplementing his words with a slightly embarrassed laughter and scratching of the back of his neck to show that even he knew it was a bit much. Everyone else joined in with his laughter, seemingly agreeing that they found the memory funny now that we not only knew that the necklace was not in any danger, but now that we were there to join in with it.

"Kenny's not the only one who got something special though" Shawn wasn't to be outdone by his "rival", cheekily winking at the older man (who heartily chuckled) as he gently loosened a pale yellow neckerchief from around his neck. God, it had been so long since Kenny had reacted enviously to Shawn's advances towards me, but everyone seemed to remember it just as vividly as I did. When Shawn held out the yellow neckerchief - which on closer inspection, actually was a scarf that he had fashioned in such a way that it didn't get in the way of his much longer and luxurious black hair - and the old label was just barely hanging on to tell me that it was made of cotton, as well as some other faded letters that I couldn't read. "It probably doesn't say it anymore, but the label used to say that this shade of colour was referred to as Primrose"

"Boo, you just copied my idea!" Kenny jokingly jeered the former farmer, but Shawn had an easy defence against that claim.

"I got the scarf before you got your necklace! If anyone was copying anyone here, then you would have been copying me!" Shawn defended himself, the two men doing some silly arm wrestling for a moment to settle things between them. Shawn's arms had certainly grown to a astounding set of biceps, but despite his older age Kenny wasn't doing so bad himself, the two lovable idiots laughing as they noticed me giggling in a state of bliss.

"Hey, don't go comparing who started what first" Carley interrupted the minor pissing contest with her own triumphant smile, as she and Lilly proudly showed a portion of their hair as though to signify that the two of them were the very first to change something to signify that they were doing something in my absence. "Lilly was specifically keeping her hair tied back until the day that Prim would come back, and I began to grow my hair out simply because I loved the way long hair looked on Prim"

"Speaking of which" Lilly decided that she had waited patiently enough, softly slipping her hands backwards to reach into her hair. With a flourish, she finally released her hair, it spilling out all over her shoulders as I had remembered it before. "Much better... For more than one reason"

To accompany her words, she gently shifted closer to me so that she could kiss me right on the forehead, using her taller stature to her advantage as I always loved about her. Carley decided to join in, instead settling for softly nuzzling her nose into my cheek. It seemed as if old things didn't change all that much, as Clementine and Duck both uttered their typical thing of saying 'eww' softly underneath their breaths. Who knows, it likely was simply because they knew us so well... And because they considered us to be way too _old_ for teenage dalliances.

"Katjaa didn't exactly get something for Prim, but she certainly did for Duck" Christa gestured loosely over to the blue plaid shirt that Katjaa was wearing, before gently handing Rose over to Omid for a brief second. Duck turned his head to look at the plaid shirt, it seemingly looking familiar if his squinted eyes were anything to go by.

"...Is this the shirt you were going to get me for my seventeenth birthday?" Duck remembered the old material, as it looked too large for him at his current age even if he was significantly taller. Katjaa smiled softly at him, that combined with the slight tears filling her eyes again spelling out that it was the one and the same. I found myself grinning as well, as now we certainly had the opportunity to give him not only his gift at his seventeenth birthday, but also the one that he had mentioned to me for his eighteenth. "Oh, sorry. Prim already gave me Italian food, so we can't do that anymore for my eighteenth"

"Really? I know Prim works miracles, but finding Italian food in this world?" Glenn found himself laughing at that, and I shrugged my shoulders.

"I mean, it was some pasta and tomatoes with jerky in it" I still had no clue whether that even remotely counted as Italian food, but both mothers in that group chuckled softly. In the new world without restaurants and regular food, we supposed that it was the closest thing that we were going to get to it for a long while.

"Mum also promised me that we were going to do sundaes for my next birthday, so you guys better help her with that!" Clementine made sure that not only I wouldn't forget, but extending the remembrance over to everyone else as well. I could tell that it was her special way of including everyone else back into our circle, and also ensuring that I would not do my typical habit of doing everything on my own. After all, these twelve people knew all too well that they had to butt in to protect me.

"But speaking of miracles in this world, here I thought you couldn't get any more attractive Glenn" I directed the attention back over to the differing appearances of certain people, as I had discovered a long time ago that longer hair often equalled a more attractive person in my eyes.

"If you think my longer hair is all, then you're in for a surprise" Glenn grinned at me, reaching up to softly roll back one of his sleeves, showing what seemed to be a particular trio of triangles arranged on his wrist. It wasn't coloured any other way than black, with the left one out of the three being filled in with black, but it certainly did tell me that he had specifically tattooed himself while I was away. It wasn't just him, as Doug also rolled back his sleeve beside his best friend, showing that he had a similar trio of triangles (but with Doug having the upper triangle filled in).

"Is... Is that the triforce?" I couldn't believe my eyes, and the two of them seemed to light up even more when they realised that I knew the reference quite well. Huh, who knew that residents originally from a game also played other popular video games.

"Yes! God, I just knew that you would get it" Doug pumped his fist in excitement, which just made me laugh. It reminded me of when the three of us stupidly were high-fiving each other in the carpark of the motel near Macon, when we learned that we were all massive zombie game nerds. "I wanted to be the triforce of wisdom, but Glenn was throwing a fit because he said that he couldn't have the triforce of strength"

"Do I _look_ like I kill zombies like it's a second instinct?" Glenn jabbed his friend in the stomach, but I found myself glancing amongst the other friends and lovers in the group. Nobody else was raising their wrists, which likely meant that the final remaining triforce was likely supposed to be for me... Which was the triforce of courage. In terms of nerdy references, it truly was the nicest one that could be associated with me, both in reference to me coming along and possibly changing their lives _and_ in the sense that I would always be an important part of that trio. "We were always waiting for the hero to come back from their slumber, you know?"

"Nerd" Travis snorted, but it was obvious that he was using the name as a term of endearment rather than as an actual bullying tactic (this was made even more obvious by the returning term of 'jock' by Glenn). When he realised that I had been the very next to catch his attention, he laughed softly, before having to give me the bad news that his new scar over his left eye was not made specifically for me. "Nope, you're out of luck here. This scar was made by accident when I was helping repair Ben's hooked hand one day"

"I apologised for that!" Ben indignantly repeated that, as it seemed to be a typical thing for his best friend to bring up. Oh, if only he knew just how much Travis cared about him, then it'd be obvious that it was always just the latter's way of communicating his love. "Besides, I don't think you have the right to say that considering the problem you have made training you"

A cacophony of complaining suddenly seemed to rise up from everyone else within the group, it all becoming a bit jumbled to make out any specific persons statement. What I could gather from it however, was the fact that Travis had been an absolute pain in the behind when it came to shooting practice.

"I know the basics!" This time it was Travis who was defending himself, his cheeks going a slight shade of red as he played with his longer hair. "I just... Prim had promised me that she was going to be the one to teach me how to shoot, so I just focused more heavily on melee weapons in the meantime"

"I did, didn't I?" I realised, as it had been one of the things that I had promised before shooting off to Crawford all the way back in Savannah. Naturally, I had come back unharmed, but there hadn't quite been the time to take a break and teach him before getting separated from the group. Now that he was nineteen - nearly twenty, if I was getting my days correct - then I certainly was able to be there for him... In more ways that just as a teacher. "We'll get right on that"

Travis smiled fondly at me, clearly thankful to have me back. He likely hadn't heard it yet from the others (as they wouldn't have seen the sudden growth as I did), but he certainly had grown into a handsome young man.

"Mark, you're allowed to show your thing as well" Lilly spoke over to the military man, who up until that point had been patiently waiting for my attention to turn to him. He likely hadn't dared to speak up in case he was interrupting me in talking to someone else, which truly did sound like him. Once my eyes did turn to him, he seemed to light up like a little puppy being recognised by their owner, which was a familiar sight in so many ways. He truly hadn't changed while I had been away, being the overly helpful, bumbling, sunshine that I knew him for.

"It took me a while, but I had managed to make these" Mark's addition was also something worn around his neck, as just underneath his leather military vest was a pair of dog tags. I wasn't exactly sure how dog tags normally looked, but when I looked at them separately they held my name and his respectively... As a way so signify to him that the both of us were going to be together no matter how far apart we were.

"These are amazing Mark" I was astounded at the sleek metal within my fingers, feeling the way he had carefully indented the names within them. Without any sort of machine to help him, it undoubtedly would have taken a lot of care and time, and the way they reflected the names certainly reminded whoever saw them of that. Returning it to Mark, as he now had me back (and I had him back), it felt like almost everyone had talked about the little things they had acquired to tide them over while I was gone... All except for Omid and Christa, the former of which who gently handed his daughter back over to Christa before moving softly towards me.

Seeing his advance, Lilly shuffled that little bit over on the couch so that he would have space to sit there beside me. It was only when I glanced up at Omid's face could I see that he wasn't looking like he normally would; his usual joking tone and happy demeanour had fallen away in place of a somber one.

"Omid?" I called his name, wanting nothing more than to somehow make whatever was upsetting him right again. He didn't respond to my call, instead silently sitting down in the newly opened spot, hugging me insistently... As though he was worried that I would up and disappear right in front of him once more if he wasn't careful. It was that feeling in the way he hugged me that told me the entire story that I couldn't hear from him right there; he had truly missed me just as much as I had home, perhaps even more than I had.

"...Omid took your disappearance really bad" Ben decided to speak for him, as everyone could tell right there and then that words were too difficult for the typically verbose man. The mood seemed to affect not only him, as Katjaa soon found herself clinging tight onto her son, who found himself also just hugging her like I was hugging Omid; hoping that we could reassure the other that we were alive, but more importantly, we were _alright_. "After a year of not finding any of you three, Omid admitted to us over campfire one night that he thought that maybe you had just... Gone home, and the kids had passed away without your guidance"

...Home. It was such a funny thing to think about, as naturally my opinion of what was considered to be 'home' had changed much in the two years I had been in that new world. But regardless of what I had considered to be my home, the message was clear; Omid had been agonising over the possibility that the blue comet had taken me home and abandoned both kids in a walker filled environment.... And to be fair, it could have been a legitimate possibility. Perhaps the blue comet might have taken my wish quite literal, in the sense that unless I had specifically stated the full names of the following games in the series, that it might have decided that I only wanted to help those from the first season before removing me from the equation.

"Glenn and I had tried to help him by stating that you may have travelled through time with the kids to the moment that the second season 'began'" Doug explained one of the methods that they had tried to ease Omid's mind... Possibly even something that might have helped everyone else in the same capacity. It was likely also why they went around telling people that they thought I had "died", as it was far easier to say that then to say that they were hoping that I had travelled through time to meet them all once again. "In fact, that's exactly why you may have noticed that he and I don't look that different. We didn't want you to receive too much shock about people aging while you were away, so at least myself and Omid - and Mark to a certain degree - tried to stay exactly as we were two years ago"

When Omid lifted his head away from my shoulder for a moment, I could see that Doug was entirely correct. Omid had tried painstakingly to look exactly the same as he had been when I had left, even down to the simple way that he had shaved; struggling to maintain the same length while not completely shaving it all off in one go. Had he occasionally had a momentary breakdown if he had gotten it wrong?... The look in his eyes seemed to say that it was more likely to be a reality that I would have originally thought.

"...God, I missed you all" I felt that those words were the best thing to say in the moment, the only way to convey that I could understand their feeling of missing me simply because it was the exact same feeling that had been with me for so long. " _We_ missed you all"

Duck and Clem managed to peel themselves away from Katjaa and Ben, only to come over and throw themselves on Omid and I. Even though the kids hadn't been privy to the experience back in Savannah when I had narrowly dodged the bullet of being bitten, I could feel that the swarm of a hug reminded Omid of that time, a vague sign of tears surfacing within the bottom of his eyelids.

"Now, I would suggest a dog-pile like we did two years ago, but I think we'd somehow kill Prim and Omid in the process" Glenn distributed a slight hint of humour into the situation, which a number of people appreciated with their own merry laughter; the kind that you could tell was honest in its entirety. Even the cows nestling at Shawn's feet seemed to moo softly, as though wanting to be included in the group wide welcoming party that we were having. "Welcome home you three"

"Honey, I'm home" I happily gave back the cheesiest response I could think of in that time, twisting my arms so that I could pull the kids into the hug completely. With all of them back with me, I now only had to integrate the cabin group into it before it would feel that little bit better to the grand group I was imagining. Not just the people from the first season and the second, but from the third and fourth as well. Once they were there... Then it would be all of my dreams come true.


	19. Cracks within the Surface

I could tell that I was walking on thin ice in terms of re-joining the cabin group upstairs (a bad choice of words considering one of the leaders of that group, I am aware), as my reunion with my tight-knit group from the first season had by far lasted longer than the ten minutes I had asked of Luke. After momentarily telling myself off mentally for still referring to them as separate groups (if I wanted them to integrate with one another, then I needed to start referring to everyone there simply as _my_ group rather than giving them different titles), I managed to find a good lull in the comfortable conversations to stand up.

"I need to go check on Luke, Carlos and the others" I stood up, expecting both children to stand up and join me as I moved over to the people upstairs. Clementine did so, but Duck seemed to hesitate, and I could tell why when he gestured over to his mother with his head. It made sense; he wanted to be close to his mother now that he knew that she was still alright. With a patient smile, I gave him permission to miss out on the conversation this time around. I briefly considered inviting some of the people there to join Clementine and I, but decided against it at the last second as I felt that Luke, Nick, Pete and Carlos likely would work better if I eased their worries before bringing along these strangers that they didn't know. "We likely won't be long, and then we can hopefully start some of the introductions"

"That sounds great" Kenny smiled tenderly as I started to leave, and I was relieved to note that none of my lovers there seemed to look worried about the prospect of new friends or fellow lovers. That may have been simply because they hadn't clued into who was a lover or not, but the friendly atmosphere was appreciated regardless. "I'd like to introduce you to Sarita, Walter and Matthew when you get back as well; those three are great people"

"Oh, trust me; I know" I gave them a sly wink, spelling out that I had known about those three long before they had met them. They didn't seem nearly as surprised as I had expected them to; instead giving that typical grin that told me that they recognised most of my traits by then.

Clementine darted ahead of me up the staircase, spelling out that she clearly wanted to see Sarah or Sam quickly, and I just followed after her with a blissful smile still on my face. That smile started to drop the moment that I could hear arguing coming from the top of those wooden steps, which made me move more hesitantly.

After nearly pricking my hand on the surprisingly sharp tinsel wrapped around the railing of the staircase, I reached the upper floor of the lodge, noticing that most of the adults were huddled far away from the stairs; as though to keep their conversation completely private from any eavesdroppers from below. Aside from Sarah, Clementine and Sam (who were petting/being pet a bit closer towards the large Christmas tree) who were being kept away from the fighting going on, Nick seemed to be hovering near the top of the staircase. I at first had assumed him leaning against the railing was nothing more than him not wanting to be between the others while they were verbally going at one another, but I soon got the impression he had been specifically waiting for me; as he noticed immedaitely when I joined them, and decided to ambush me with a combination of a hug and a tender kiss to my temple.

"What's wrong?" I asked him, as I knew that Nick was not usually so outgoing with public displays of affection unlike his uncle or best friend. He tried to pass it off as being simply a spur of the moment decision by shrugging his shoulders, but my insistent look did tell him that I didn't believe it.

"I just... I don't know. I thought that I had to remind you that I still love you" Nick softly conveyed the truth to me, which naturally brought a number of additional questions along with it. At first presuming that it was because he was feeling jealous of the attention I was giving Kenny, Lilly and the others, I decided to open my own arms to slip into another comfortable hug with him... But the following arguing from the adults told me that his motivations might have been more because of what was going on in my absence.

"You cannot be fucking serious!"

"Alvin, please"

"Language!"

Nick tensed heavily at the shouting, spelling out that he had actually been stalling me a bit before reaching the others. Alvin was completely hysterical, and it sounded like it was not going well alongside his wife and Carlos (the latter of which who was worried about the harsh language reaching his daughters ears). By that point the arguing was no longer private, as even everybody from downstairs could hear it, Mark and Shawn even giving me a look that said that they were going to be coming up if it sounded like it was going to get any worse. I waved them off in such a manner that I was telling them that I was handling it, before deciding to take the plunge into the argument going on.

"Is everything alright?" I tried to politely cut into the conversation after I peeled myself off Nick, but it seemed as if that was the wrong thing to do. Alvin seemed extraordinarily irritated the moment he heard and saw me approaching, as though it was my mere presence that was causing the problem. With a loud sigh to accompany him, he stormed off, avoiding me altogether like the plague.

"I can't deal with this" Was the only thing that I could hear coming from his lips before he was too far away to make out what his mumbled speech was about. Even his wife calling him back seemed to do nothing, which pressed Rebecca to try and stand up to go after him... Only for her to grunt a short pain filled note and sit back down, her back and legs spelling out that they weren't quite ready for sudden movements after the climb up the hill just yet.

"I've got him" Luke was the person to go in her place instead, as he was often the more diplomatic one out of our group if Pete was not available. And considering the somewhat startled look in the latter's eyes, it seemed to be that he really was _not_ ready for being the peacemaker. "Alvin! Alvin, wait!"

Carlos sighed heavily - mumbling something underneath his own breath about how he expected 'adults to act like adults' - giving me a short sympathetic glance before he moved over to Rebecca to check on her. It was those combined gestures and mannerisms that told me that Luke and Carlos may have tried to tell them about my abilities without me being there; something which Sarah seemed to confirm with a casual sentence.

"Dad and Luke said that you can see into the future, and Nick backed them up when Alvin said it was stupid" Sarah didn't quite phrase it as a fact, more along the lines that it was a theory that her father and the others had told that she was still mulling over. Rebecca and Pete were silent at that remark, instead waiting patiently while glancing at me to see whether I was going to deny it or not... And they saw quite clearly that I nodded at Sarah's unspoken question to the validity. "What's it like?"

"It's... Kind of scary, to be honest. I know what's going to happen, but I don't always have a sure plan on how to stop bad things from happening" While I didn't want to scare her anxiety into flaring up, I did decide that she deserved to hear the truth on the manner. And besides, it was a nice way of me being able to tell it to my final lover of the four and my newfound motherly friend without having to look either person in the eyes. "Plus, I'm scared of telling people about it because they might call me crazy, you know?"

"Oh" Sarah said that one word note, taking the information on board and mulling it over. Talking to her reminded me of when I had talked to Duck and Clementine when they were younger, before they had matured a lot. It made sense, as Sarah was still in that fledgling state of growing up in that new world, while the two younger kids had spent two good years learning how to be smart with me. "You don't look afraid though"

"Most people don't; adults are very good at hiding it" I found myself chuckling softly as I said that, as I could guarantee that most of the adults within my group had looked completely confident in themselves while being utterly frightened underneath the surface. It reminded me of an analogy that my deadbeat college friend Alex told me once about his medical experience; that most first aiders, nurses and doctors often worked like a duck (looking completely calm on serene on the surface, while paddling like hell in the water where nobody could see). "The trick is, is that being strong and courageous doesn't mean being unafraid; it's doing the right thing even if you _are_ scared"

Sarah softly uttered a 'wow' breathlessly, finding the idea completely cool in theory. While it naturally would be a bit early to expect her to pull of something like that in her current state, it was good information for her to learn about. Plus, the grateful look in Carlos' gaze was also going to be a bonus. With Sarah as best on board with my future reading abilities, I slunk over to Pete and Rebecca, and I could hear the tell-tale sign of Nick's footsteps following behind me in case I needed the support.

"Sorry about Alvin" Rebecca felt the need to apologise for her husband while he was gone, as his reaction to me had been the strongest out of everyone. It clearly conveyed that even if she didn't believe in what I did, she didn't think I deserved such a wave of vitriol. "We were already having a difficult enough discussion about whether we were going to slip out after dinner while you and your kids were still happy with your people, and dropping that information in the middle was like a bomb going off"

"...I was trying to convince the others why we really _needed_ you to stay" Carlos sheepishly gave his reasoning for bringing it up, which painted him as the whistle-blower before Luke. While the latter hadn't been the first one to mention it, I could see Luke backing up Carlos on the subject if others were to question the doctor on it. I didn't think it was necessary to mention about how they didn't need to slip out after dinner, but I felt like I was going to get plenty of time for that later. "Do your lovers know about it already?"

"Everyone in that group knows about it, possibly with the exception of baby Rose. Clementine and Duck knew about it as well, but they kept quiet for the same reasons" I managed to explain that right before the eight of us could hear the sound of two people coming back up the staircase. My mouth found itself naturally closing, almost subconsciously because of who it might have been.

While there had been a small sliver of worry that Shawn and Mark were barging in despite my assurances, I was... I was unsure what to think of it being Alvin once again, him frowning as he crossed the floor to re-join his wife. He seemed to avoid looking at me, and I could already feel that this was going to be one of the harder times of convincing people of my future reading abilities. While everybody figuring out all the way in Macon without my knowledge was daunting, I had never encountered someone who had been so vehemently unwilling to listen to my explanation...

...Actually, never mind, I had. After a bit more pondering, I realised that Larry was far worse a reaction; so I tried to look on the positive side of things in regards to Alvin.

"Let's get this over with" Alvin grumbled, waiting only a bit longer for Luke to also come up the stairs (he likely had been held up by someone asking him if things were alright) before he turned his scornful gaze towards me. Clementine bristled beside me, but I softly pet the top of her hat to remind her that this wasn't the first time I had encountered resistance to my abilities. "Tell me why on earth I should believe that you can suddenly see into the future out of the blue?"

"It's not out of the blue; I just didn't tell you straight away because... Well, frankly, this reaction" I tried to start anew with them, watching them all listen intently to my explanation even if not all of them were ready to believe it quite yet. Clementine had long since decided to interrupt into the conversation, even if most considered her too young for it. She was ready to defend me if need be, even seemingly thinking hard about what kind of things she could mention that would help them believe me. "I'm not upset, far from it. If anything, I'm surprised that Alvin is the first one to react in such a manner"

"Alvin is the first?" Pete asked me, as while he wasn't nearly as dismissive of it all as Alvin had been; he found the claim to certainly be odd.

"Not the first one to react with disbelief; I'm more referring to his kind of antagonistic response. There was another man two years ago who tried to shoot me when he figured out the truth, but I don't consider him a good example because he would have shot me for something minor like accidentally stepping on his toes" As much as it was a bit of an odd memory, I did find myself laughing a little at it simply because of how much that old bastard had gotten away with. For extra measure, I even gently shifted some of my clothing away to show the ever so vague scar remaining on my left hip, the proof that I had survived that experience. Clementine frowned the moment she could recognise who I was talking about, two years not changing her view on the old man. "That's where this scar comes from actually"

"Okay, so it is quite clear that you at least believe in your future sight" Rebecca decided to quickly divert the subject back to the matter at hand, and I couldn't blame her; talking about Larry would make anyone annoyed. She naturally also missed the vast amount of people downstairs and those few upstairs which also believed in it, but I suppose she didn't consider that an accurate enough sign of proof due to their possible bias. "But how do you see it? Do you have dreams?"

"I'm... Look, I know this is going to sound even less believable than the idea of seeing into the future, but I came here because I wished on the blue comet" I said that as I gestured upwards, and I felt doubly silly when their heads naturally turned upwards to follow where I was pointing, but they naturally could only see the wooden roof of the lodge rather than the dark sky above. After everyone sheepishly brought their heads back down, I decided to skip ahead rather than apologise for making them do that, as at the very least I never had to explain what the blue comet was. "In my world - my universe - everything that happens here for about eight years takes place in a series of games. In those games, the person playing is supposed to be able to decide other people's fates based on their choices"

"...Games?" Alvin asked me that single question, his demeanour and raised eyebrow clearly spelling out that he still found it nonsense. I nodded my head, fighting the urge to start fiddling with something because of the nervous feeling in my body, as I needed to convey that it was the truth without any sign of faltering. "...As in, a children's game like tag?"

"A video game, one that they based quite heavily on a combination of 'choose your own adventure' books and a zombie apocalypse. I'm not sure who thought of the idea, but it may have come in response to people who claimed that they would easily survive some kind of zombie apocalypse?" I loosely started to theorise on why they existed in the first place, mainly blabbering in the latter half of my sentence because I was unsure why the Telltale company had even decided to make them in the first place. While I had thoroughly enjoyed the story (while wishing it had better execution), the people standing in front of me undoubtedly thought that it sounded like the work of some kind of psychopath. "Everyone downstairs that you can see - minus Kenny, Sarita, Matthew and Walter - are alive right now because I was with them during the events of what we would call 'the first season' in my world. That's also why the sky is currently blanketed in clouds, because this universe didn't really like me changing the original timeline"

"You're all from the second season" Clementine further cemented the notion, but it seemed like that information might have been a little fast for some people, as Pete softly stopped her before she and I could go on.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down" Pete found himself a bit overloaded with the information, resembling Sarah from earlier. Then again, I supposed the universe altering idea of someone travelling from another world to save them - after discovering that they were characters from a video game in my world - was likely to be as mind blowing as the notion of fear and bravery to a teenage girl with anxiety. Even the few who knew about things (Nick, Carlos and Luke) looked a little surprised to know the extensive list of information within my mind beyond the simple explanations that I may have given them earlier. "...Alright, so let's try this again. All of the people from your original group are actually the people you had saved, and each time you saved someone the clouds grew?"

"Correct" I gave a simple answer to his question, and he looked to be thinking over that new information even further. Even Alvin couldn't deny that the sky had been acting oddly for the last two years of their life, never diminishing their clouds over our heads, and Sarah brilliantly came along to my rescue.

"Oh! I actually saw the sky wobble earlier, when you were with my dad on the bridge!" Sarah excitedly joined into the conversation, seeming like she was firmly in the camp of believing me at that point in time. I wasn't sure if she was aware of it, but there was a nice smile on Clementine's face when she noticed that her fellow girl was backing me up (even if Sarah wasn't really realising it). "Alvin and Rebecca saw it too, but they didn't know what it was. It got darker rather than getting bigger though"

"That, was me saving Matthew from this lodge" I explained, gesturing over to where we as a group of ten could just barely see Matthew talking and helping his partner Walter cooking away on the stove. "In the original story, our group accidentally... Gets into a fight with him. Because of the specific people that I chose to bring, we avoided that possibility this time around"

I cringed a little when I realised that I was skirting around the truth in that particular subject, but it didn't feel right to just blurt out that Nick had shot him in the game. Not only did _my_ Nick not seem like he would do such a thing, I honestly believed that the original one had done it because he had thought that Luke and Clementine were in danger. But as luck would have it, the people listening to me didn't really seem to be bothered about who I was referring to in terms of danger to Matthew's life.

"This video game of yours does not exactly sound pleasant" Rebecca snorted, likely thinking in her mind about something along the lines that the creators hadn't put much time or effort behind it. I couldn't exactly say whether they had or hadn't, as I couldn't exactly ask them anymore, but I certainly agreed that the original end result was far less grand than the one that they had promised to the players.

"It showed that they bit off more than they could chew, I suppose. They planned to actually make choices that mattered, but... Who knows, maybe they simply found that it was far too difficult to actually make a sprawling extended universe with the time they had been given" The creator's motives aside, it was conveyed quite clearly without spelling it out that the games didn't exactly give the player what they had wanted. Hence, why I had wished to get there and do it myself. "Any questions?"

"I can now sort understand why you believe it, even if I still think it’s more than a bit... Odd" Alvin started, clearly gearing up for another question to prove to him that I wasn't just speaking complete nonsense. I was preparing myself for some other jab towards me, perhaps one that would shine doubt on what my old universe was even like, but it seemed clear after he glanced at my three lovers who knew about it beforehand that this question was not for me. "What I don't understand, is why you three decided to believe her"

"She gave us answers to questions about things that no normal person would know about; our escape from Howe's. She knew about Reggie and Bonnie" Luke readily answered his side of the question, even using his fingers to indicate that his use of the word 'us' was referring to Carlos as well. It seemed as if that answer, along with the correlating evidence of the sky seemed to convince Rebecca, as her eyes seemed to glance at mine with an apologetic look to them. "Nick already knew by the time she told us on the bridge before"

"I..." Nick faltered a little in his explanation, as he could already see that his version was likely going to be another hit-or-miss in terms of people believing him; just like mine had been. He glanced over at me as though he was considering lying just to sound more believable, but he stuck with the truth just like I had done. "...My mother told me stories about a hero coming from another world because of the blue comet"

"Great, so not only do we have to deal with one fruitcake, we have to deal with two" It seemed that Nick's answer clearly was a 'miss' for Alvin, but I found that I didn't have to speak up for his defence like I had expected.

"Oh, fuck off Alvin!" Pete used harsh language for the first time, not content with listening to the other man disparage his nephew. There was a good chance that it was also because he didn't like the idea of someone mocking his sister, showing that the stories were told for far longer than just to Nick. But naturally, Clementine was there to police the words being used even if I wasn't going to correct my lover.

"Language"

"Sorry" Pete easily apologised for the specific choice of words, but it was clear by the tone and posture that he was still holding that he wasn't relenting on his attitude. "But you call Nick - or Prim - a fruitcake one more time and we're going to have trouble"

"You're seriously believing this?" Alvin couldn't believe what he was hearing, looking first at Pete and Nick, the former of which who had made up his mind on the subject. When he glanced around at the others, he found that he was vastly outnumbered by everyone else settling on believing me; and this came to a real shock when he realised that his wife was also deciding to believe me.

"It's not the stupidest thing we've ever believed" She reminded him softly, as of course there was the far worse thing (person) that they had believed in... Carver.

"You don't have to entirely believe me straight away; I can completely get that it's a hard thing to accept" I tried to smooth it over one final time, but I could tell that there was not much else I could say to them. Naturally if any other questions were to come along later, then I was more than happy to deal with those, but right then it seemed to be enough. "All I'm here to do is ensure that you guys get a much happier ending than the one that the game gave you"

With a heavy sigh, it seemed that Alvin had accepted what I had said. Perhaps not about the fact that I could see into the future (or whatever the exact right term would be, considering the fact that it wasn't exactly the 'future'), but at the very least he had sufficient evidence from our six weeks together that I meant well for them all.

"This is really pushing my buttons" Alvin ended the conversation on that, and almost immediately my mind wanted to respond to it in a mischievous manner. Before the more reasonable part of my brain could kick in, the words instantly came out of my mouth.

"Don't worry; Lilly and Kenny would probably agree with you on me being able to push various buttons" I joked with them, and I was majorly relieved to hear the familiar murmurs of laughter coming from several of them. "Please feel free to wander downstairs and get acquainted with my people. They're more than happy to meet you guys, as they were supposed to be coming with me when I searched for you guys"

"That likely is a smart idea" Pete sighed a bit, clearly drained from the argument and subsequent revelations. It seemed that things were good between he and I however, as when he slipped by me he tenderly touched me on the shoulder, that hand lingering for quite a while before he eventually started to head downstairs. "Sam, come"

The dog quite gladly followed behind him, and I momentarily found myself pondering why he was so easily attached to boys. Sam wasn't the only one to go with him, as Pete leaving seemed to signal to everyone else that it was fine to leave, Alvin, Carlos and Sarah going down with him to see what they could figure out about my friends. Right as Carlos descended the stairs he gave me one of those warm smiles that I knew from him so well, and it was the simplest thing in the world to return a similar kind to him.

"I'm going to go hang out with Katjaa and Duck" Clementine quickly announced that she was going to be departing my side, and I smiled and gave her permission by gesturing towards the stairs. It felt a little funny to have her essentially ask me for permission about it, the lines blurring quite heavily in regards to me being some kind of parental figure and actually being her mother... But I knew that it didn't matter what kind of label was attached to it.

"You good?" Luke softly asked me before he made plans to head downstairs as well, and I nodded my head. It wasn't the best way it could have gone, but I had a feeling that Alvin would soon be coming around. "Good to hear"

Luke ended that short check-up by leaning down and softly kissing me, remaining there for a little while to convey that he too wanted to remind me of his love. With a soft smile, he soon walked off with his best friend in tow, and I was about to go after them when I heard Rebecca softly ask me something.

"Prim, do you have a second?" She politely asked me, as there was a possibility that I was thoroughly tired enough to not want to linger there. But I was alright with being there for her, even if she and I didn't have a romantic relationship between us. As her hands softly hovered around her stomach, I had a strong feeling that I knew what she was going to ask me about. "I... I don't know exactly if the 'game' tells you about my baby, but..."

"He's going to be born just fine" I reassured her, as that was naturally the first worry any prospective mother was going to have. As well as her extremely relieved look, I could spot that that there was a vague hint of a smile there, the little competition she had with her husband being directed in her favour. There was some small little doubt still there however... And I decided that it was best to alleviate it, even if she wondered how I knew the details about it. "And he's going to look a lot like Alvin"

While there naturally was the slight bit of surprise, the massively overriding emotion was that of utter relief, her gently clutching her stomach as she waited patiently for the day that he was going to born. With her lips softly spelling out a 'thank you' to me, it felt right to let her rest up there; returning to the warm glow below me.


	20. Quality Family Time

I was pleased to see the horde of people mingling with each other, even if there still happened to be small hints of uncertainty coming from those seven I had been travelling with for six weeks. Sam absolutely loved it all, bounding between several legs of people in order to get the most amounts of pats and play from people as he could manage, and it seemed like several people were more than willing to give it to him because they loved animals. Maybelle and Bramble even tried to join in on the festivities, but they naturally were far larger and had to be careful to not knock over various furniture and/or people.

"So, you're Prim" Sarita seemed to take a moment when she saw that I was alone, making her way over to me right after she finished placing a brilliant blue bauble in the Christmas tree next to the staircase. Even as she approached me, I could somehow _feel_ that sense of warmth and compassion radiating off her, something that I usually could only really feel for those within my group who knew me well. Encountering a stranger (well, whether she was a "stranger" to me was debatable) who felt that way was rare in itself, and I felt drawn to her because of it. "I've heard so much about you, in a second-hand manner"

"Mainly good things, I hope" I giggled, equally pleased to hear that the others had been more than happy to talk about me in their absence as well as the fact that frankly... Well, Sarita was gorgeous. Not only were her eyes gentle, yet vibrant at the same time (honestly, how did she do that?) but her hair was absolutely luscious. The game truly didn't do her justice, let's leave it at that.

"A mixture of things. Some weird, a little bit of questionable behaviour - but I suppose that would be there for anyone - but as you hoped; mostly good" She smiled radiantly at me, which I could feel melting my heart even as I stood there. It was no wonder she had been the shining light for Kenny in the game after everything he had dealt with; as I could understand that feeling of wanting to rely on her regardless of how bad things had gotten. "If I may be honest, I started to wonder if you really existed after a while"

"...Because you had not seen any sign of me existing?" I asked her uncertainly, as I wasn't exactly sure how one was supposed to take that sort of sentence. Sarita glanced momentarily at my two different groups of people lingering together, before gently gesturing for me to follow after her once she was certain that nobody was going to come with us; implying that she was trying to keep her reasoning a little bit secret.

"Because the way they talked about you was quite... Ethereal in nature. Not only did some of the stories sound incredibly illogical for a single person to have pulled off - or thought up - but listening to all the way that your lovers and family deeply were traumatized by your disappearance seemed different from anything I have ever heard of before" Sarita only stopped walking when we had reached Walter and Matthew, the former of which who smiled and gave me a friendly wave. It seemed to be that those same sentiments were shared by the couple, as she wasn't worried at all about talking in front of either of them. "It was less like they were talking about a person and more like some kind of god who had walked among them"

"And that was already before we overheard them whispering among themselves about how you could predict the future, or how you might have 'travelled through time'" Walter agreed with what Sarita was saying, but at the very least the smile and short note of laughter coming from the older man suggested that he wasn't really berating anyone in what they believed in. It did tell me that the group from the first season was not as great at whispering as they thought they were, but that was a different hurdle entirely. "So, I'm sure that you can imagine that we originally thought that you may have been made up"

"You thought a group of twelve people made up someone in excruciating detail?" I felt those words come off my lips before I had really thought much about it, and luckily they didn't seem to take it as some kind of insult to their intelligence. If anything, they found it endearing, if the twinkle in Sarita's eyes was anything to go by.

"Weirder things certainly have happened" Matthew chuckled, gesturing softly at his partner next to him as if to imply that Walter was weirder than I was. "Walter here still believes in politics after the world has ended"

The three of us accompanying the man laughed in agreement about how we weren't sure why anybody would still be interested in that, especially considering how societies likely couldn't be properly constructed at that point in time. While I didn't have the typical American view on how democracy worked, I did think it was a little early to be deciding what was best for a large group of people. Walter, he simply was wearing a confident grin, proudly showing that he wasn't at all concerned about still being interested in those beliefs... And I was happy to see that he still hoped for the best within humanity.

"Ah, the weather sounds like it might be getting a bit heavy outside" Walter realised soon after the growing noise outside, likely the wind rattling their wooden reinforcements. It was a good reminder that their wind turbine had to be turned off less it acting as some kind of attraction for walkers to wander their way, but the real life variants of these two men seemed to be far smarter than their video game counterparts, which honestly just showed another layer of laziness from the developers in making people have phenomenally stupid moments. "It's a shame we had to switch off the turbine; the wind would have been really good to power the generators for a good while. Ah well, life finds a way to keep going on"

"How do you feel about peaches and beans?" Matthew asked me, earning himself a gasp of shock from Walter by not referring to it as the incredibly fancy name that he had come up with. Even with my own home countries bad reputation for cooking, there was no stopping the absolutely disgusted look on my face at the idea of the mixed ingredients. "Trust me, it sounds bad, but there are far worse things to be eating"

"If you say so" I still found myself disagreeing with it, Sarita giggling cutely behind her hand at my disgust. It certainly showed far more personality out of her than other parts of the game, and I found myself inadvertently paying far more attention to her than the two men in that trio... And if the soft smile that she gave me was a hint, then she was quite pleased to see that she had caught my attention in that manner.

With Walter announcing in a typical loud teacher's voice to everyone within the lodge that the food was ready, we could spot people starting to slowly amble their way to the two differing sets of tables set up as a dining area. As for myself, I found my mind hesitating in actually following after them, as I had a pretty strong inkling that I was going to be encountering another situation where they wanted to separate themselves into two different groups.

"You're worried about being forced to pick between your old group and new one again, aren't you? I saw it happen earlier" Like an empathetic angel, Sarah gently held out her arm as if for me to link my own around, which I felt quite comfortable about doing. Even with my trepidation, her linked arm with mine gave me the courage to at least walk forward towards those dining tables. "It's like being forced to pick between friends back in high-school all over again"

"I hated high-school" I found that my voice was combining a joking tone and a bitter one, telling her that while I tried to shine a positive light on it, I did not enjoy my time when I was in school nearly as much as I should have. She smiled in a conspiratorial way, telling that she likely had encountered a similar feeling back when she had been a student. "Too many people looking at you funny when you try to date a girl"

"Oh, trust me; I know that feeling quite well" Sarita agreed heartily with me, and I found myself momentarily surprised by the revelation. The surprise didn't last long however, quite quickly morphing into a pleased manner instead within my mind.

When we arrived at the combined set of tables, I was not surprised at all to see that they had indeed separated themselves into two different groups; a soft sigh escaping my lips at the sight. Luke was the first one to notice me, softly waving at me as though to invite me to sit across from him (beside Nick and Pete), but that feeling of deja vu in my mind wasn't there for no reason.

"Prim, over here" Kenny softly called for me, him waving at me in his own group on the right hand side. Everyone there had specifically left one spot open for me (right in between Doug and Clementine), perhaps two if Sarita were to come with me to that table. At the realisation that I had landed in another situation like that, I could see the momentary glimpse of worry slip into Luke's eyes again. Not just him, as Nick, Carlos and Pete seemed to notice the situation; giving me similar pleading looks to request without words that I snub the invitation from Kenny in favour of sitting with them.

"They really are doing it again" Sarita whispered with her own slight sound of disappointment in her voice, as she could see the agony that it was bringing to me. There wasn't much she could do about it beyond offering her mental support, so she softly pet the inside of my arm to remind me that she was still there beside me. "Whatever you choose, I can be there if you need me to be"

I found myself thinking back to the last time I had been presented with another situation that the game forced the player to choose, all the way back in Macon during the end of the second episode of the first season. That station wagon had also given the player no real good option out of the two, so I had thought hard about what to do... Before eventually settling on making a choice that was something new.

As my mind started to tick in the right direction, I found myself smiling at the thought that was slowly forming in there; whispering it softly into Sarita's ear. It was clear that she approved, smiling at me and nodding her head in a clear way that told me that she was more than happy to help. Lilly and Mark were the first to notice that Sarita and I were softly circling around the outside of the left table, looking momentarily hurt at my decision to not immediately come to them... But everyone got taken by surprise when Sarita and I started to push on the tables there.

"I- Wh... What are you two doing?" Pete asked us both, as of course us two ladies were having some difficulty in moving the tables while they were still sitting on them (not for lack of trying, I assure you).

" _Not having any of your 'separating' bullshit"_ Was the thought immediately running through my mind, but I was wise enough to keep it within my mind. Not only would the language still be uncalled for in the presence of the children sitting with Katjaa and Carlos, but the antagonising tone would likely just make everyone feel on edge. So instead, I found a diplomatic way of phrasing it. "Sarita and I were hoping to push the different sets of tables together, so that everyone could eat together as one"

Doug and Glenn chuckled at their table, before standing up (prompting others to do so a moment later when they realised that not many people were following their example) and copying us with their own furniture. With all of the men from the cabin group soon after joining in on our side (Rebecca had to stay sitting because of her back, and Sarah was just idly sitting there while chanting "wheee!" when the table proceeded to move), it seemed like such a piece of cake to have the tables pressed together.

"There we go, much better" Sarita looked very proud of herself - likely just as proud as I looked - standing there and waiting to see where I was going to sit now that things were much better oriented. While some people would still have their backs to others, it was far better than before... And I could notice that my four most recent lovers were also hesitating in sitting back down, also eager to find spots near me.

With the tables pressed together, Katjaa decided to take the opportunity to swap tables, starting a conversation with Rebecca and Alvin to ask how things were going for them. Duck and Clementine seemed to follow after her, as of course they wanted to be close to Sarah, with Sam gently following after the boy. Christa gave her partner a gentle pat on the shoulder before picking Rose up from him, taking the excitedly babbling baby over to the soon-to-be expecting mother there, even if only to finally have that opportunity to talk about motherhood like the men couldn't really do.

Now with extra spots available, I easily slipped into the spot that Kenny had originally reserved for me, with Sarita and Nick quickly settling themselves beside me before others could take them. It was a bit more tense when Luke, Carlos and Pete had to essentially shoulder their way around the table (which they likely already felt that they had to do in the current situation), and I then could spot that the immediate table was filled with all of my lovers... Plus Sarita, but I had a feeling that she wasn't going to remain 'complicated' for very long in my eyes.

"So, forgive me if I get some names wrong; but it's Nick, Luke, Carlos and Pete, right?" Doug spoke to the four new additions on their table, pointing correctly at each person when he said their name. Each named man didn't dare to speak just yet, just mutely nodding their heads when it was their turn to be called, quietly staring down into their food or looking unsure about everything. Even Nick seemed to be unsure (despite him hearing the most about my ten lovers beforehand), one his hands wandering underneath the table to find mine, while wordlessly bringing up a spoonful of food to his mouth. "Apologies if this is overstepping boundaries, but Nick and Luke; the both of you really do make an adorable couple"

It seemed to be a poor time for Nick to try and eat something, as he first choked on the food directly in his mouth at the time, before hurriedly slapping his chest to clear it. The food quickly got cleared, but he still was coughing a bit harshly; which prompted me to softly pet his back in a comforting manner.

"They're both about as straight as Kenny and Glenn are" I giggled, trying to turn the momentary slip-up into a funny joke. Doug was already softly apologising to the man sitting next to him for jumping to conclusions about his orientation, but Luke's mood seemed to have soured somewhat anyway.

"Prim can attest to that" While Luke's words could have easily gone to the joking side of things as mine had, there was quite a bit of a bitter tone to it. While the ten long standing lovers looked at each other with uncertainty as to why the four new guys seemed to be so hostile, they seemed to shrug it off momentarily as nothing more than first time jitters.

"Prim, huh? I guess that means we've got some new comrades in love" Lilly aptly picked up on not only the fact that Luke's words told everyone that I had some romantic experience with the younger men, but the very fact that they were lobbing around my special nickname was quite clear proof. She turned her head to look at Carlos and Pete respectively, as the chances were higher that they also had decided to sit at the table because of their inclusion to my circle of lovers. "You two as well?"

"Er... Well, I suppose so" Pete answered a bit uncertainly, as he seemed to suddenly feel like he was put on the spot. Like I had expected, none of the more experienced people even blinked with the new arrivals, as they knew me quite well. "She... I'm not certain about the others, but Prim had told me that she had experience in relationships with older men"

"That's probably because of Kenny; he's - like - super old" Travis was expressly using the term of 'like' ironically, as of course he and Ben were the youngest out of my fourteen lovers. Kenny's chuckle in response told the others that he didn't mind being older than most, especially with his following words supplementing that feeling.

"I prefer the term 'silver fox' myself" Kenny cracked that joke, softly petting a particularly large patch of grey within his beard, the joke sitting well with the other nine more experienced members... The other four were as quiet as ever. Noticing the continued lack of progress from jokes, Kenny seemed to switch tactics to complimenting the men instead, as he remembered from two years prior that I was quite intent in looking for them. "Prim was quite excited to look for you guys two years ago, you know. She was absolutely buzzing from excitement when she managed to find a familiar name from her knowledge of this universe"

"Unsurprising, considering the fact that she continued to spend those two years looking for us instead of you guys"

...That comment from Nick was about as poorly handled as a grenade, and I could immediately see the explosive carnage it had done to the chipper mood that the others were trying to wear. Some of the more ill-tempered members of our group (namely Kenny and Lilly, as they were already frowning quite a bit from that) were not looking pleased, but some of the more optimistic people tried to swoop in to save the mood.

"I'm sorry if that was the impression you got, but you need to remember that Prim thought we were dead; _that_ was why she wasn't looking for us" Shawn came along and used his brain quite well, aiming to enlighten the others rather than let further misconceptions cloud other people's judgement. But it seemed that no matter how hard he was trying, the frown on Luke, Nick, Carlos and Pete's faces said that those words were likely falling on deaf ears by that point. "The truth of the matter is that we were searching for her and the kids for over two years"

"Guys, please-

"It certainly didn't look like it when we arrived here" Whether Carlos had intentionally cut me off or not, it still stung quite badly to hear him talk over me; causing me to sigh deeply and dig my fingers into my temples out of irritation. "You were doing nothing more than decorating the place with holiday baubles"

"What? But that's- Look, you likely know by now that Prim is a bit different than most with the things she can do, otherwise you would have actually reacted to Kenny's statement of her knowledge" Mark also was trying his best along with his typical buddy to save the slowly sinking conversation, but even he was beginning to lose his patience; pushing his glasses up for a split second to rub the bridge of his nose annoyance. "After seeing absolutely no sign of her, we were hoping that it was either one of two things. Either she was completely lost and we would find her later, or she had travelled through time similar to the fact she had travelled here because of the blue comet"

"Sounds like complete bullshit" Pete angrily rebuffed that logic of theirs, using the words that I recognised from the game (albeit coming from a different mouth than I had expected it from). "You're telling me that you started to believe she could suddenly time travel, despite her never showing such an ability to you in the past?"

"You wouldn't get it, Prim herself told us that she didn't even know how the blue comet brought her here in the first place" Ben was starting to become annoyed as well, his grand gestures with his hook and hand reminding me of the time he had gotten completely livid at Larry and the bandits two years prior. After he realised that waving around his sharp hook likely wasn't helping his case, he huffed and pulled another lever to make it go away for the time being. "For all we knew, it had listened to her wish a little too well and only allowed her to reappear when the 'second season' started again like she said it would"

"Look, say what you will, but it's not going to change the fact that we're not going to be staying here" Luke was once again going back to the idea of slipping out after dinner ended, and if the collective seething anger in the air around that table was an indicator, it was starting to look suspiciously like both sides were going to have an attitude of 'good riddance' when it came down to deciding on it. "It'll be better for both groups if we're long gone anyway, as Prim said that Carver was going to be a problem soon"

"Hey, slow the hell down, why are you making it sound like she's automatically going with you guys?" Omid asked them with a scathing tone, it sounded the angriest I had ever heard coming from the typically placid man in the past. Even though a number of people were glancing at me to see what I would say on the subject, I was completely and utterly uninterested in getting in the middle of their argument, because I knew how that would end; with everyone ignoring what I was saying just like Clementine would have experienced in my place.

"And why wouldn't she? It's clear that you ten can't keep her safe considering how _phenomenally well_ that went two years ago" Nick twisted the knife further into the already sore wound that plagued those ten lovers, and I could have sworn I could hear the last bit of civility shatter into a million pieces. Everyone and I mean _everyone_ sitting at that table looked like they were going to tear each other’s throats out... Actually, that wasn't entirely true. There was at least _one_ completely unbiased party there, and it seemed like she was the only one coming to my rescue when Kenny looked like he was going to completely blow his fuse.

"If you motherfuckers think for one second that I'm going to sit here and honestly accept you four trying to steal the love of our lives, then you've got another fucking thing coming! I'll-

"STOP IT!" Sarita shouted, chastising all of the people around the table with a stern tone. While it initially seemed to have only stopped them for a short second because of the sudden startle they received, it seemed to be that the lady sitting right next to me certainly seemed to know how to wield her own words. "Look at the lot of you; arguing with each other like you're fighting over some kind of toy! Look at what you've done to her!"

It was only then that people seemed to take the time to fully take in what I was doing, their frowns and snarls vanishing once they really understood the damage their fighting had done. My fingers were still firmly pressed into my temples, but everything else on me was completely limp; as though I had just entirely given up. I had fought painstakingly against the universe to even get that far, but good almighty god, it felt like everything was going against me. Now, not only did I have to deal with the _literal_ goddamn universe trying to stop me; but I also had the very people that I was trying to save fighting with one another, as though I had a million times to try this again.

"...Are you finished now? Or do I have to listen to you all acting like toddlers for a bit longer?" For the first time in... Frankly, ever, I used an icy tone when referring to them. It wasn't as though they had never seen me angry before, it had just never been directed solely _at them_. This got further reinforced to them when I slowly raised my eyes, as they could see the emotion in them that they had only ever seen me give to Larry, Carver, or motherfucking John of all people; I was utterly _livid._ "I can understand being uncertain about meeting people you've only ever heard things about second-hand, but this is fucking ridiculous"

My vitriolic use of language didn't seem to escape those who had been sitting at the table closely pressed behind us, with Clementine and Duck decided that it was high-time to leave for a bit. Even Christa and Katjaa knew that it was bad to interrupt, gently stopping Rebecca before she could intervene. As for everyone at my table, they were silent, firmly understanding that they would further incur my anger if they were to speak up without letting me finish.

"I may be from another universe thanks to some stupid rock in the sky, but I do not have super powers. I cannot shoot lightning from my fingertips, I can't summon a sword or a demon to my side, I can't manipulate time; but most of all, I _am not_ immortal" I released my temples, even if it was only because I didn't feel like irritating the nerves there anymore, instead angrily clasping both hands together as I glared around that table. "You know what that means? That just like all of you, I _cannot_ just 'try again' if something were to go wrong. This is a one-time attempt for me to help all of you, and I'm certainly not going to be able to do it if I have to corral you all like some demented children!"

"Uh, Prim?" Matthew came along at what I considered to be a really bad time, and my head angrily turned to glance at him for a brief second, urging him silently to hurry up and tell me what was so important to talk to me right then. "Something is going on outside of the lodge, and I thought that you might want some air to settle your nerves anyway"

"If it's Carver, tell him to take a fucking number; I'm busy right now" I brushed him off with those words, snapping my head back to the others to signify that I was done talking about that subject. But even after my head snapping back, Walter spoke up as well, interrupting me before I could return to the fourteen lovers at that dining table.

"I really think you should come along" Walter quietly, if a bit more firmly than his partner, insisted that I come with them. I took a deep breath in and released a grumble so loud it resembled a growl instead of a typical human noise, but the breath in already was enough to put that little bit of sand on my blazing anger. "You can bring someone along if you think that may help you"

"...Fine" I decided to give up for the time being, standing up and carefully clambering out from the table. It likely was a good idea anyway, as yelling further at people at the table would only cause more harm than good... And they likely needed time to internalise the scolding way I had handled them as it was. "Sarita, would you do me a monumental favour by coming with me?"

"Of course" She readily accepted my invitation for her to be the 'someone' to calm me down, as she and I realised that she still was unbiased enough to act as that without taking any particular side in the subject except for my own; her arms coming back to softly curl around my own in the same reassuring manner that she had done before. While it hadn't directly my intention, the decision to take someone with me who was not in either group was like throwing that last bit of salt onto the subject, hurting everyone else as I stalked out of the building with the two partners and Sarita at my side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, apologies for what may be a stressful chapter! As some sort of recompense, here are some memes about how certain characters have reacted to the realisation that Prim could 'see into the future'.  
> Chuck's reaction: https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/mobile/000/013/292/tumblr_lz376laNSq1qaygy7o1_500.jpg  
> Omid's reaction to Prim being poly and her powers: https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/490/511/148.jpg  
> Nick's reaction to Prim being into him and her powers: https://img-comment-fun.9cache.com/media/an901ro/a1w00rwM_700w_0.jpg  
> Carlos' reaction to her powers and how it is just as illogical as walking zombies: https://pics.me.me/aye-fair-enough-30217235.png  
> Alvin's reaction to her powers: https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/facebook/000/030/984/Screen_Shot_2019-08-30_at_1.57.08_PM.jpg


	21. Speak of the Devil

I had exited that building expecting nothing more than Bonnie hanging around at one side of the building. While it certainly would be a sign of Carver arriving soon after, it would at least give me some time to clear the steam that practically seemed to be blowing out the sides of my head. The first sign that it was something different should have come in the form of neither Walter nor Matthew waiting outside to keep an eye on the supposed friendly stranger, but it was only when I glanced upward that a more obvious clue told me that something was up.

Littering around the front of the lodge was a number of walkers, around seven when I did a quick headcount. Our shouting inside of the lodge (while quite loud and grating at the time) was nowhere near the volume needed to punch through the glass and attract straggling walkers, so I found myself thinking along the other ways that walkers would have been drawn to the building.

"...I thought you mentioned earlier that the wind turbine was off" I softly whispered to Walter, who looked about as confused as I did on the subject.

"I did; you can even see that it's not running right now" Walter explained his own perplexed reasoning, pointing over at the tall metal wings of the aforementioned turbine. True enough, it wasn't running normally. While some of the wings were idly moving in the increasing wind, it wasn't making nearly enough noise to attract the walkers like it would in the game; my own ears could attest to that later fact. "It's almost like they were led here somehow"

...That odd feeling in the bottom of my gut had returned suddenly, and I could feel my hands reaching for my fire-axe on my back as a natural reflex to that feeling. Sarita relinquished my arm when she saw that something was up, even pulling out a very small little pistol from one of her pockets and flicking the safety off.

"I've got your back" She assured me that she was going to be providing me more support, this time in the form of the physical variety. While the game variant of her seemed to be a pacifist through and through, she seemed to know well enough in real life that pacifism didn't mean that you couldn't defend yourself if you needed to.

While my eyes were intently focusing on the forest bordering around the outside of the lodge, there was a faint noise distracting me from looking for Carver and his goons. It was the faint sound of tinkling, like some kind of little chime. It wasn't just a singular noise; many of them ringing softly around the lodge if someone really tried hard to focus on them. Borrowing the skill that I had learned from Tess (one of my old college friends, who had really learned how to differentiate noises during her time as a chef), I zeroed in on one particular chime close by to me. When I found the direction that it was coming from, I found that it was leading me directly to one of the nearest walkers shambling around.

I tiptoed closer to the walker, my eyes scanning over the walker to uncover why there was a chime coming from it. It was only when it turned somewhat around that I could see a kind of device attached to its head; a truly old fashioned saying of carrot and stick, as there was a little pole taped onto its head that dangled a little fishing line in front of its face. Attached to the end of the fishing line was a very tiny bell, one that only produced enough noise for that own walker to follow after like a lost lamb. Theoretically, if someone were to cover themselves in walker guts and attach the device to the walker successfully before pointing the undead creature in the right direction, then there was a legitimate chance of the walker stumbling their way to an enemy location.

That wasn't all; as looking a little downwards Sarita and I could see something taped into the walker’s mouth. While I had never handled one myself, I quickly could recognise the grenade within its mouth, only not being activated because of the pin still being in. The aforementioned pin was a bit harder to spot, as it had been wedged firmly in between the two strongest looking teeth in the rows of rotting variants. When the walker spotted us lingering near it, it did it's most natural reaction to nearby humans by trying to open its mouth and growl at us... Which ended up tugging the pin right out of the grenade, arming it.

"Grenade!" I hurriedly called out in case Sarita hadn't seen it in the walkers mouth, before taking my foot and driving it right in the middle of the walkers chest. Most walkers were naturally top heavy, so it ended up tripping and falling over the moment I shoved it, landing on the ground just a little bit further away from us. Even with the increased distance, both of us girls ran a bit further away before we threw ourselves on the ground, hoping to whatever kind of deity that it was far enough away to not hit us with the shrapnel.

The grenade's explosion ended up being muffled a bit, as it first did damage to the walker's head, but we certainly could feel the shockwave running through our bodies. The sound wasn't only problematic for us, as it set of the other walkers in the area that had previously not noticed us, their mouths all opening in growls... Which set off another wave of catastrophic explosions throwing not only shrapnel but also several showers of walker brain and blood everywhere. With that combination plaguing my mind, I crawled over just a little so that I was covering Sarita (to protect her from any such projectiles hurting/infecting her), before I hurriedly covered my ears to protect them from the noise of the explosions.

"Holy- Are you two okay?" Matthew only dared to speak up after all of the resulting explosions had done their damage, as Walter and he had copied us in getting onto the ground. I did a quick pat over my more obvious parts of my body, but after finding no damage (at least, none externally) and having zero pain, I was relieved to see that we weren't harmed. Sarita did a quick sweep of her own body, but there was also no sign of damage done to her. Because of the spread distance of the walkers and my decision to kick the one nearby us over, none of us four had been hurt beyond some momentary ringing in our ears.

"My ears aren't too happy with me, but I think we're okay otherwise" I gently rubbed my ears to try and get rid of the sharp ringing going in them, but my mind was already trying to uncover why someone would even do such a tactic. It certainly had the capacity to hurt people by either shockwave, shrapnel, infection or a combination of all three, but it seemed like such an unreliable tactic. What was their plan supposed to be if the walkers ended up just banging into the side of the lodge and exploding then without any people coming outside? Sure, it would damage the building, but it would only serve to give us an early warning about enemies coming our way.

"Oh god, that was so loud!" Walter had a good point; it certainly was noisy. But if my brain was ticking in the right direction, then that was the intended reason behind it rather than just an accidental addition. "More walkers are going to be coming now, we should get inside"

More walkers? No, that didn't seem right, as Carver likely could have done that with something far simpler, without using precious resources like grenades. He had specifically decided to go with the complicated route of using walkers to his advantage, so there had to be another reason... Perhaps it was supposed to be a distraction? Bah, that was also not likely because of the earlier logic I had thought of; there were far easier ways to cause a distraction.

"No, don't come outside!" Matthew tried to gently dissuade someone from coming outside to check on us, as of course the people still residing within the lodge would have heard the absolute cacophony of explosions. After all, it wasn't like walkers were the only thing that ever reacted to noise. "I'll explain later, but it's probably not a good idea to come outside right now"

My brain seemed to latch onto that thought within my mind; the one about walkers not being the only thing to react to noise. Grenades were _loud,_ the noise likely being heard for absolute kilometres (or miles, whichever you prefer) around our location. If the explosions were attached to walkers - along with those bells to make them move in the right direction - then it implied that the enemy wanted to be a distance away from us for some reason... So it actually made sense for the explosions to not be an indicator for walkers to go towards our place; but rather some kind of _signal_ to tell the enemy that the walkers had found a human. And because they had been pointed in the direction of our lodge, the signal was purposefully primed for when _we_ were distracted by exploding walker heads.

"Prim?" Sarita's tone was essentially asking me whether I was alright, but I hushed her softly with a finger to my lips. I wasn't down to her using my nickname without really asking me (I wouldn't have minded, honestly), but I had a bad feeling about what was happening around us.

Rather than heading back inside, my hands swapped my rifle in place of my fire-axe, peering through the scope into the forest immediately surrounding us after the explosion. While at first I saw nothing but a bunch of leaves and branches interspersed between the gaps of tree trunks, I did soon spot a flicker of movement; far too fast for a typical walker.

"Damn it, they're really here" I hissed underneath my breath, balancing up in my mind what was wise. Turning around and charging back inside certainly would give me some more cover, but there was a good chance that the person I had just spotted might decide to shoot me or Sarita right in the back the moment I turned around. And that wasn't even including the fact I still hadn't figured out why they wanted the noise to be so loud... Was the group separated in two, with one being a long way away and one being a lot closer?

"I told you to stay inside!" Matthew hissed quietly at someone ignoring his recommendation of staying inside, and the sound of footsteps nearing me told me that they really weren't going to go back inside unless someone forced them to do so. With my scope capturing most of my attention I couldn't exactly see who it was, but their thick Hispanic accent soon filled in the blanks on which person it was.

"Prim, are you alright?" Carlos asked me; despite the fact he could see that I was relatively unharmed. Perhaps he felt even extra apologetic considering the fact that I had left him on a particularly sour note, and wanted to make up for it in some manner. I was about to raise my rifle a little to gesture at the woods in front of us, but tilting the scope managed to highlight something else I had managed to miss. Right above the treeline in the distance was some kind of weird... Wooden construct, something that certainly hadn't been there before we had entered the lodge. Carlos soon noticed my combined bewildered look and angle of my scope, soon joining me in looking there with his binoculars (that he had borrowed back from Clementine, no doubt); commenting with his own guess as to what it was. "...What is that? It reminds me of a trebuchet"

"A trebu... I'm sorry, what?" Sarita asked Carlos, as she had no clue what the name meant. I supposed one could blame the fact that it had a French name associated with it, as simply saying 'catapult' would have been more clear.

"A trebuchet. It's an old..." Carlos started to waffle on about what it was, before the realisation seemed to smack him in the face about how bad it was to actually see it.

The name wasn't unfamiliar to me, as I had played enough medieval games in the past to recognise it. A trebuchet was an old fashioned kind of catapult, one that was used long before gunpowder had been invented and peering closer at the wooden construct I could see that he was correct; it looked to be a counterweight trebuchet, one of the larger and more deadly variants. As to why they had built one of them pointed in the direction of our lodge, well... That didn't take a genius to think of; especially when the five of us gathered outside of the lodge heard the heavy _ba-chung_ of the device firing something.

"Get everyone out of the lodge!" I barked that order at anyone who could hear me, completely not caring if they didn't understand my reasoning behind it. Even some of the more confused people out of that five (namely Walter and Matthew) didn't care for the 'why'; considering the fact that they could see the flaming projectile soaring through the air in an arc towards our mostly wooden building. "Open the doors and tell everyone to get out!!"

Walter managed to open the front door the lodge, but was just a second too late to shout at everyone inside; the giant flaming ammunition colliding right into the top of the lodge with a gigantic crash. The majority of the roof seemed to collapse in on itself with the damage being done, a large chunk of the roof even crashing down right in front of the doors that Walter had just opened, several people having to dart out of the way to not be trapped underneath the flaming rubble. With the loud _ba-chung_ coming once again afterwards, I knew that we couldn't afford to dawdle long before the second load arrived, and I tried to run forward to help anyone who needed to get out of the building. My efforts didn't particularly get anywhere, as one part of the flaming roof came crashing off, nearly crushing Walter and I underneath it if it hadn't been for Matthew as well as Sarita and Carlos pulling us respectively out of the way.

A gunshot went off on the right side of the lodge before long, Carley taking particular use of the massive collection of windows to shoot them out for another way out. With her and Doug starting to get people out on that side, I noticed another gunshot just around the corner from where they were, with Mark, Lilly and Kenny spilling out on that side. Kenny seemed to glance at me at just the right time, allowing me to frantically gesture at the woods just a bit further; wanting the three of them to act as an ambush on anyone who was going to be threatening us shortly. He luckily seemed to understand me, with those three rifle wielding members darting off into the trees before anyone could stop them.

The second projectile from the trebuchet hit just a little bit left of the original location that it had struck, seeming like our enemies were steadily trying to make an entire wall of fire that we couldn't cross past. And if the splashing of flammable liquid dripping out of the projectile was anything to go by, then that was their entire aim. Even as I began to worry about the third launch sounding over the sound of the blazing inferno, it seemed that our problem didn't just end at flames soaring out of the sky and Carver's men lingering in the woods.

"Prim! Walkers - Ha-cugh! - there are walkers behind you!" Luke managed to indicate that we had a number of our friendly neighbourhood walkers arriving, despite his coughing fit from the sudden smoke pouring out of the building. He was helping Carley and Doug get some of the younger and less able bodied out of the building, so he unfortunately couldn't go and handle the thing he had pointed out to me.

"Of course there are, why wouldn't they be?" I dryly mocked the monumentally bad luck that we seemed to be having at that point in time, but we also knew that they were likely on the way because of the absolute racket that we were making. But even if walkers sounded like a walk in the park compared to possible armed gunmen, we couldn't take the chance that these following walkers also had grenades in their mouths. "Carlos, Sarita, with me!"

"Already on it!" Carlos announced, pulling out his desert eagle to help me, already firing a shot sharply into a distant walker stumbling out of the trees. It seemed as if the act of killing their brains also caused their jaws to relax, as a couple of moments later the very same walker's head exploded in a horrific display of gore. With a small piece of shrapnel flying just by my ear, we decided to take the smart decision to kneel and lie closer to the ground, trying to avoid the chance that some little pieces could reach that far to hit us.

With Walter and Matthew coming closer to us, we had a pretty effective five man team picking off walkers long before they could come close to us. While a number were not armed with the grenades that we had been worried about, it was still far too many for my liking. Even worse, it sounded as if the task of getting everyone out of the lodge was not as simple as it sounded.

"Duck, Uncle Pete, what the hell are you two even doing?!" I could hear Nick cry out for both men, as it sounded like they were not doing the smart option of getting themselves out of the building. It wasn't just those two, as shortly after Ben called out for someone else in a similar manner.

"No Shawn, you need to come this way! This way!" Ben worriedly tried to make Shawn come in the direction of his voice, but his call got overshadowed by the sound of glass being shattered on the complete opposite side of the building. It was setting off warning bells within my head, making my mind instantly snap back to the time I had to make the decision between charging after both kids in the river or stick with my group.

"Nick, Luke, Omid, Glenn, the four of you take over for me here!" Despite the extreme feeling of Deja Vu crossing my mind, I knew that I had to go help those three men just in case they were in a similar situation like it had been the last time. After all, I couldn't have lived with myself if I had just let those kids drown in the river, so I had to rely on the fact that these people could do the exact same thing that they had done last time; survive without me having to be there. With the sharp sounds of guns cocking and people rushing over to replace me, I darted off towards one corner of that lodge.

"Prim, where are you going?!" Omid asked me as I began to leave, as of course that exact situation was reminding him of the same thing that I had been thinking of. I didn't have time to placate his worries however; I could do that once I was back safe and sound with the others.

The moment I came around the corner I could see that the three men had made it out alright. In fact, it seemed as if they had been chasing after Sam, Maybelle and Bramble, who all in their extreme panic from the sudden fire and explosions had charged right out of the glass windows (the vague glass shards still bouncing off Bramble's back told that story quite efficiently). The worried sounds of mooing and yelping from both lots of animals made me want to move forward to help them in collecting them, when the third lot of projectiles suddenly crashed directly in front of me, nearly threatening to crush me and burn me alive in equal amounts to one another.

With the literal flame wall of that projectile, I tried hard to see where there could be a spot for me to slip through and help them, but a harrowed cry from the direction that I just came from worried me far more.

"Oh my god, Carlos!" That cry sounded like it came from Rebecca, and it certainly did sound like something that Carver would do; harm Carlos to try and get everyone else to give in. While the in-game equivalent of the interaction would never equal in his death, I knew that I couldn't rely on that in this new world... So with a grimace obvious on my face, I had to abandon the idea of going after Shawn, Pete, Duck and the animals in favour of heading back to save the doctor.

As I came back around the corner, the situation had become quite dire. Everyone minus the six missing group members that I had tried to help, as well as the three waiting in the woods had been subjugated directly in front of the lodge, the majority of them being held at gun point with much heavier weapons in the opponents hands (assault rifles and shotguns, in contrast to our hunting rifles and pistols). Most weapons in my allies hands had been dropped at their feet, with the exception of weapons still hidden away on their bodies, but without a coordinated response they all knew it was foolish to oppose them. The only person who wasn't lined up with the others was Carlos, who was held tightly in a chokehold by nobody else than Carver, a revolver being tightly pressed into his neck to keep him and others in line. While I briefly was wondering how on earth Carver had even managed to sneak up on the others, it became obvious by the pile of walkers directly in front of their feet; they had been hiding behind the walkers as they advanced forward.

"Motherfucker" I hissed underneath my breath, reaching into the back of my pants to reach for my pistol. It was far quicker than my rifle, and I was hoping to get a lucky shot directly in Carver's left eye before any kind of damage could be done. Unfortunately my quick movement clued in Troy at one far end of the five people Carver had with him, who easily turned his assault rifle in my direction before I could even point my gun.

"Easy there, I don't think you'd be very pleased with a lot of bullets lining your stomach" Troy warned me, with me stopping just in time before he would inevitably fire upon me. Bonnie seemed to stand beside him with some... Odd door, as though it had been stolen from a bank or something, but I didn't really have the time to figure out why she was carrying that thing around. At the realisation of exactly what Troy had said to me, I found myself snorting at the vague memory that his words seemed to bring up.

"Wouldn't be the first time someone tried to shoot me in the gut" I was reminded of Larry, but of course Troy just looked confused with my reference. My louder talking voice did clue in Carver that I had arrived, his eyes glancing over at me despite the fact he had to peer around Carlos' head to do so.

"Ah, I was wondering where you got to" It seemed that he wasn't surprised at all to see me, gesturing to Troy to allow me to move forward a bit. While I briefly considered taking that opportunity to test how quick my draw was, I knew it would end badly for everyone else present, so I gritted my teeth and moved forward until I was practically in front of the moustached enemy himself. Carver looked... Exceedingly proud of himself, especially so when he could spot more than just a few bits of singed hair and burnt clothing on several people. "Well, don't you all look certainly like you've had a hell of a time. I was hoping to take you by surprise, you know? Do something different than what you... _Expected"_

"Man-handling Carlos is still familiar" I wasn't at all willing to give him that sense of victory, so I purposefully focused more on the thing that he certainly was doing exactly the same. Even if his grenades within the walkers mouths, the trebuchet and using the walkers as waves to advance was new and scarily ingenious for him, he was never going to hear it come out of my mouth. His eyebrows raised ever so slightly in a somewhat mocking gesture, but I could sense that he naturally was ever so slightly surprised to hear that something was familiar to me. Who knows, perhaps he was just surprised that I wasn't cloaking it anymore?

"Is that so? I must admit, I thought the recognisable thing was man-handling Luke" Carver glanced over at the man that he mentioned by name, only receiving back a hateful glare from him. I purposefully kept my face stoic, as I didn't want to give him anything at all in terms of a hint. Even if Luke had been missing in the game, he didn't need to know that. "Bummer, I had chosen Carlos because I thought he would be the least obvious. If I had known that, I likely would have picked Luke, considering how we have such a _healthy_ relationship with each other"

"Is that what all of this was; trying to impress me or something? Good god, you're pathetic" I could pick up in his words that he had specifically chosen to do things because they were weird or odd, or maybe just perhaps it was because it wasn't something that _he_ would do. Whether he was doing it to circumvent my knowledge of the universe we were in or from some twisted game that he was playing with me, it certainly made my skin crawl.

"Prim, please, don't..." Carlos softly begged for me to not antagonize the man literally holding a loaded gun to his neck, only shutting up further when Carver readjusted the revolver to press tighter against his tighter. Unfortunately for both Carlos and I, Carver didn't seem to be nearly as stupid as his in game counterpart; as he could pick up the affectionate tone that Carlos was using to plead with me. Not only that, as Carver could see after a couple of glances between his hostage and me, that he could spy the worry in my eyes and the pleading look that Carlos gave me to not look in case Carver decided to pull the trigger... And the sinister smile crossing his lips made my stomach turn.

"Ah" The sing-song way he pronounced that single word didn't sit well with me, spelling out that he found this new revelation very exciting... Likely in a sadistic manner. "Carlos found himself a special _someone_ "

"Daddy!" Sarah called out in worry for her father, but she got stopped before she charged forward. Alvin and Doug managed to catch her, as they knew that letting the young girl charge forward would just lead to increased problems. But even so, her harrowed crying was only making my own nerves skyrocket.

"Tell me something, _Prim"_ Carver purposefully used my special nickname when addressing me, and even out of my peripheral vision I could see several people bristle with the fact that he was using that name in such an underhanded tactic. They didn't dare say anything lest they give away that Carver had far more opportunities to play with someone dear to me, and I was far more focused on the fact that Carver slowly peeled away the revolver from Carlos' neck, sliding it along the Hispanic man's head until it came to rest against his temple. "Would me shooting Carlos here be... _Familiar_ to you?"

Carlos tightly shut his eyes as his breathing went absolutely haywire, and I honestly would have done so too... Especially after I gave the question a bit more thought. If I answered truthfully that it was unfamiliar to me, then there was the high chance that Carver would pull the trigger just to not go along with the information that I already knew... But the opposite was not much better; as there was the chance that saying that it was familiar would prompt him to shoot simply because he wanted to see me suffer, or because he felt that I was lying to him. And as for not answering him, Carver impatiently pulling the hammer back on his revolver spelled that out.

"...It's-

My answer got cut off by a rifle shot going off, a bullet directly hitting Carver in his right shoulder. While the game had shown Carver responding in a terminator manner to being shot (i.e. not reacting at all beyond a single grunt of pain), this real life version of him reacted far more appropriately; with him screaming in pain and dropping his revolver out of some poorly timed reflex. With the opening given to me by the further rifle shots being fired from my trio of people hiding away in the woods, I shoved my shoulder directly into Carver's chest, sending all three of us tumbling to the ground.

It was then that I understood what those weird doors were for (It was not just Bonnie that was carrying one, as the guy stationed near Carver had one), as the man standing directly by Carver hurriedly got in such a position that his door was covering the three of us on the ground. They had bullet proof glass on most of the parts of the door, evidenced a moment later when it directly stopped another rifle bullet that had been coming our way. My continued struggling to punch Carver in the face got thwarted the moment that guy turned his own shotgun in the direction of my chest, his face looking familiar when I looked over at him.

"Don't you fucking move" Russel hissed at me, his eyes practically begging me to move so that he had a good reason to fire his gun into me. I was yet again taken by surprise, as Russel had never been there in the game to collect the cabin group... But then again, surprises seemed to be the theme of the day.

"Hey! Stay still!" Troy warned the other people who had tried to recollect their weapons, as he was covered by Bonnie's door, but was still able to point his assault rifle in the direction of those in my group who had also hit the deck. "I swear to god Nick, if you even fucking twitch I'll blow your brains out!"

Carver now had the advantage again, especially after the momentary surge of pain was being taken over by adrenaline and rage. It seemed that my people weren't the only ones with hidden weapons, as Carver had a second revolver hidden away inside that stupid puffed up jacket of his. With this other revolver, he pistol whipped Carlos across the face to disorientate him, before releasing the doctor to grab me. The thing he decided to grab was my long hair, which irritated me for double the reasons that any other location would have, before he rose up along with Russel.

"Now, we're going to make this very simple!" Carver yelled in the direction of where my three people were hiding, keeping himself carefully hidden behind Russel's bulletproof door as he jammed the cold barrel of the gun into my neck. The three of them likely could have still taken shots against their feet, but that was going to be a bad idea regardless because of Carver's following words. "For every single bullet you keep firing against us, I'm going to put a bullet in the head of a single person over here! Let's start with this one, shall we?!"

Even though our door was getting fogged up by the frantic breathing of Russel, Carver and I, it was still quite easy to see through it. Lilly, Kenny and Mark could likely see that the first intended target had changed from Carlos over to myself, and the long stretched pause gave away quite clearly that it wasn't easy for them to risk my life... Especially when they likely could only strike a single person's foot with their shots.

"Don't... For the love of god, don't" I whispered softly to myself, hoping that the three hidden there would be smart and just slink away. Perhaps the three of them could find the six others that had yet to be found, becoming far more of a reliable backup than what Luke had managed to be within the game. But I could feel that hope slipping away when I saw the bushes and brush softly part in several areas in that direction, each person appearing with their hands raised high and regret clear in their eyes.

"Secure them" Caver ordered Russel to do that, as he still had me tightly held to him as a replacement hostage now that Carlos was not as good to be used. Troy and Bonnie moved forward from their little huddle to start tying away the hands of the nineteen other people (Rose couldn't be done much with, so they reluctantly just took the weapons away from Christa and allowed her to keep holding onto her child), before Carver's attention seemed to switch back over to me. He hadn't noticed that Pete was missing out of the group (and he couldn't really have known about Duck and Shawn, nor the animals anyway), so they were going to have to be the backup Luke if we needed it. "So, now that everything is a bit better sorted... Remind me what your answer was going to be?"

Carver was specifically talking to me, knowing full well that the gun was now being pointed at me rather than Carlos. Even with the unlikely chance of him turning the gun on all the others standing nearby, they and I were still uncertain. With an angry tone to my voice, I spat out my answer.

"...It's a loaded question; both options would have been bad" I answered him, gritting my teeth as he smugly grinned at my answer. Whether he found it to be a good answer or whether he wanted to see me squirm, he seemed very pleased with himself.

"Correct, it was a loaded question" Carver pointedly pulled back the hammer on the revolver in his hands, before sliding it up my head exactly as he had done with Carlos. "Great job"

"PRIM!!!"

The moment his finger went for the trigger, I decided to close my eyes and try and choose the most dignified exit. The horrified screaming and people calling my name certainly made me flinch, but not as much as the following sound did...

... _Click._ The hammer harmlessly came down and made a small noise, but didn't fire a bullet. When I opened my eyes and glanced down the barrel of the gun itself, there wasn't the familiar sight of a bullet resting in there... The gun wasn't loaded from the start.

"...Fuck you" I seethed on the spot, but I found myself regretting my words when that same sadistic smile returned to his face, along with those bone chilling words following along with it.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that; I plan to"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since people were quite the fans of memes last time, here are some more to cheer people up/see a bit into how I work!  
> (Me: Ugh, I don't feel like updating today  
> My computer: What perfect timing! You have several windows updates, so you should probably give up on writing today as it is! :3  
> Me: https://i.imgflip.com/35dvza.png)  
> (My mouse: *Keeps trying to right click despite me not telling it to do so*  
> Me: https://miro.medium.com/max/324/1*HI4kj-TPAQrfQkAdrw2KTA.png)  
> (Me, when I'm trying to count how many characters are in Prim's group near the end of the chapter: https://i.imgflip.com/2xlcka.png)  
> (Everyone's reaction (yes, including mine) to Carver's comment at the end of the chapter: https://i.imgflip.com/2y8g45.jpg)


	22. Bumpy Road Trip

Not long after everyone had been rounded up, we began the journey to Howe's Hardware in that truck that Carver and his men had brought along. However, in contrast to what I recognised from the game, I had been stationed on my own up in the cabin of the truck. Wedged on either side of me were Troy and Bonnie, the former doing nothing more than idly steering the truck over the bumpy roads while Bonnie was busy pointing a gun at me; as though she had been warned that I was akin to the devil himself.

I undoubtedly had been separated from the others because Carver didn't want me to be able to converse and make plans with those in my group, and the twitchy look in Bonnie's eyes seemed to imply that Carver was not nearly as tight lipped as John had been in the first season. While I had been remaining silent for most of the journey, I did eventually turn my head to the side to glance over at the fierce red head keeping me in her sights - with her twitching in response as though I was going to leap at her any second.

"...So, what did Carver tell you that I could do?" I asked her, mulling over in my mind whether I truly could trust her. She ended up being a... Mixed bag in the game, to say the least; fluctuating between being a good character and an absolute train wreck in the final episode. But then again, the universe I had landed up in had already proven itself to not be exactly the same as I knew them, no matter how hard it tried to stick to its depressing originality.

"He said you were dangerous; that's enough for me" Bonnie bluntly told me, repositioning the pistol in her hands as though her hands had gotten incredibly clammy in the meantime. With the way the truck was jostling the three of us there, I was honestly wondering how likely it was that she would accidentally shoot her associate in the driver’s seat rather than me, but I kept that thought to myself.

"Oh honestly Bonnie, give it a damn rest" Troy was nowhere near impressed, reaching out with one of his hands to smack the pistol away. Bonnie only ended up grunting in a disapproving tone and aiming it back at me, showing that the two of them certainly were not bosom buddies. "You're acting like she can shoot lasers from her eyes or something"

"If I could, I certainly wouldn't be just idly sitting here" I agreed with Troy, as somebody with truly dangerous powers wouldn't be subdued with something as simple as a gun. Nope, unfortunately for myself (and possibly for the two people with me there in the drivers cabin, as they looked incredibly bored by that point) my powers were completely harmless in the physical sense. The only thing it may do would be messing with people's heads, and Bonnie seemed to be startled enough without my input as it was. "What about you? Am I 'dangerous'?"

"Don't know, don't care" Troy had a kind of attitude to it that I actually could sympathise with in some manner, as sometimes just accepting that something was beyond your scope was refreshing all on its own. I had to have such an attitude with how I had ended up being transported that new world (as well as why my wish was determined to be more important than others) lest I go insane from overthinking things like whether the blue comet was a sentient creation or whether the universe truly did have it out for me because of my alterations, so I was actually quite receptive to such an answer. "Bill just said to capture you, and that's what I did"

I chuckled softly as I glanced over at him, as even something as simple as meeting Troy face to face was something I had never imagined in my wildest dreams. Don't get me wrong, I had never intended to go to that world even remotely to meet the bastard, but somehow... Seeing that he actually was more of a human being in the flesh reinforced the fact that this was all real to me. That, and the fact that it highlighted just how one-note the characters had been made in some of the seasons, but I digress.

My note of laughter seemed to catch his attention for a brief second, with his eyes glancing away from the road to figure out what was so funny about his remark. For the first time, I had a proper look at what his face was like in high detail rather than the games and... Well, he didn't look that bad. Remove the creepy moustache, and he would look quite presentable.

Before I could consider whether it would be stupid to tell him this, his distracted attitude ended up leading one of the front tires of the truck into a very large pothole in the dirt and stone road, making the entire truck buck and shake as though it was literally protesting the sudden dip. This large shake ended up making Bonnie (who was not seat-belted in, now that I noticed it) fling forward, her pistol shooting out of her hands the moment her arms got smacked into the glove box on her side of the truck. I don't know what part of me was compelled to help her in that uncertain moment, but my hands ended up shooting out to securely catch her before she could slam back into the back of the seat, hopefully preventing a nasty case of whiplash or a concussion.

"Are you okay?" It seemed like the side of me that was eager to help people wasn't completely dead (as much as I sometimes thought it was), wanting to make sure that she was alright before anything else. Unsurprisingly, she did look somewhat confused on why my first instinct was to help her despite her threatening me and my group with various weaponry, but after some consideration she did seem to appreciate my help.

"...Yeah, I'm alright" She softly answered me, before looking for the pistol that she had dropped in the meantime. It was only after she picked it back up that I realised that I likely could have decided to grab it in the confusion, but by that point it was too late to try and make a grab for it... And besides, if the fact that she tucked it back into her holster was any indicator, then maybe my decision to be civil with her was already pointing out to her some of the flaws in what Carver had told her.

"What the hell was that?" Carver's voice ended up chiming through on a walkie-talkie on Troy's waist, and boy did the boss man not sound pleased with his driver. The game Carver was already irritated enough with the mere _possibility_ of Troy turning on the air conditioner for the truck, so I can't have imagined that nearly crashing the truck would be seen as much better. "Didn't I tell you to be careful with that damn thing?"

Troy reached for his walkie-talkie to respond to him, but seemed to stall for a second when he realised that telling the truth would sound incredibly... Bad to repeat. ' _Heya, I got distracted by staring at our prisoner'_ did not sound like it would go well over in terms of either an explanation or as an excuse. Just like I didn't know why I decided to suddenly help Bonnie out, there was a side of me that still wanted to help people if they were even remotely good in this universe, so I quickly made up my mind to throw him a bit of a bone.

"Use me as an excuse..." I softly whispered to Troy, just in case the moustached man had already pressed down on the button for his walkie-talkie. He hadn't - thank goodness for that - so he still ended up having a couple of extra seconds to come up with a far more believable lie, before pressing the button on his device with a familiar _beep_ that I recognised from the one I still held on my cargo belt.

"Sorry about that Bill, the prisoner was acting odd. I had to help Bonnie secure her for a second" While sounding incredibly flimsy at best, it was the most likely lie that could be believed by their boss. The silence coming back over the radio seemed to signify for a second that it was at least reasonable enough to give Carver some pause, and the subsequent sigh certainly gave the impression of ' _I'm not mad, just disappointed'._ While agonising for kids with their parental figures, it was far better than the alternative for us.

"Just don't do it again" With another familiar _beep_ to accompany his verbal departure, Carver decided to leave the conversation be. Now with neither person in the front seat in any danger (from either literal or possible future damage), Troy returned his attention back to the road and did his best to avoid any further bumps in the road. I could have sworn that I saw him silently mouth some kind of thanks towards me, but I wasn't entirely sure.

Part of me wondered whether it was wise for me to crack a joke about how that likely wasn't going to be the first time that somebody tested Carver's patience, but after some consideration I decided to keep that to myself as well. Continuously claiming that somebody was insane often led people to put up mental barriers in their mind to resist that possibility, so they would only be more resistant to me pointing out how unusual it was to have a boss who you honestly and unequivocally were terrified of making a mistake in front of. If these two had any lick of sense to their in game counterparts (which seemed to be a common thing with most people in that new world), then I didn't need to do a single thing; Carver's own insane ramblings and deranged behaviour would highlight the problems before long.

"...I sure hope Wyatt and Shel are going to make it back with their groups in one piece" It seemed my choice to remain silent was good for more than just one reason, as the ensuing silence seemed to unsettle Bonnie beside me in the typical interrogator tactic. The familiar names caused my ears to perk up ever so slightly, trying to gain more information about the two people she had mentioned, as they naturally were more names that ran bells within my mind.

"Bah, they'll be fine" Troy was still as dismissive as ever, but this in turn seemed to unsettle Bonnie further, sounding like she had actually developed a bond with them compared to the cardboard variants of them in the second season.

"But they had incredibly harsh tasks to do! What if... What if they actually needed our help?" Bonnie certainly seemed to be upset about Carver's decision to just pack up my group of twenty-three into the truck and leave without waiting for their other groups, and it was then that I decided that I couldn't remain silent.

"Shel and Wyatt were responsible for the trebuchet and getting the walkers prepared with grenades and bells, weren't they?" I asked Bonnie, who in turn seemed to focus more on the fact that I was speaking like I already knew who they were rather than the actual question I posed to her.

"...How did you-

"Because that's literal common sense Bonnie, get with the program" It certainly seemed to be that Troy was under the impression that my future seeing abilities were a complete hoax, which certainly highlighted that Carver _had_ told them about my powers. While a little odd, it didn't bother me all that much; it just meant that many less people that I would have to have _that_ talk with (and no, I am not referring to the birds and the bees). "It doesn't take a 'future seer' to piece together that you were talking about two different groups, and your hint about a 'harsh' task was also obvious"

"To be fair, I have far more convincing bits of information that would indicate my powers" Like it sometimes had been in debating with people who were religious, I found it even more interesting to keep supplying him with information of what I could predict. Who knows, perhaps it was simply because I was bored out of my mind by that point, or because I was actually hoping to see the astonished look on his face when he realised that I was telling the truth. "As an example; I can tell you that Shel has a younger sister called Becca back at your home base, which is called Howe's Hardware"

"What do you think of that Troy?" Bonnie genuinely seemed interested in what her associate thought, her tone of voice seeming to support my theory that she actually believed me already based on what Carver had told her. Troy though, he was not such an easy nut to crack; his disbelieving snort supported that very much.

"Luke probably could have told her about both of those things" Troy loosely waved his hand in the air, before returning it to the steering wheel in an obvious show that he was completely blasé about it all. It only took him a couple of seconds more before he realised that Bonnie was sounding like she was taking my side, his attention being once again drawn away as he looked at both of us ladies in a combination of surprise and dismay which... Honestly, was completely hilarious to me after I looked at it for a couple of seconds. "Hey, wait a minute! Why does it sound like you're taking _her_ side of all things?!"

"I don't know, maybe it's just the simple rule of chicks before dicks?" I said that at the very same time as shrugging my shoulders, which seemed to be the final thing that allowed Bonnie to absolutely lose her cool, chuckling quite openly at both Troy's expression and my stupid reasoning.

"Don't laugh Bonnie, it isn't funny!"

"It kind of is"

And like some Three Stooges sketch, Bonnie's laughter and my words ended up doing the exact same thing that I had managed to accomplish all on my own the last time; causing Troy to hit a pothole directly in the middle of the road. Almost immediately we could hear the walkie-talkie flare into life to chastise the driver again, but my words didn't help Bonnie's attempts to hide her laughter.

"Uh oh, somebody's in trouble" I decided to give that sentence a little bit of a sing-song voice, which naturally made Bonnie laugh harder in response. Troy tried to hush us both with a finger to his lips, trying to see whether he could completely lie himself out of this one as well, but he happened to have pushed the button by that point in time.

"Troy, is that _laughter_ coming from the cabin?" Carver's icy voice ended up cutting our festivities short, and this time Troy didn't have time to come up with a more reasonable excuse before he opened his mouth and spoke into the walkie-talkie.

"That was Bonnie, boss. The, uh... The prisoner stubbed her toe against the dash" Even I could tell that was a horrible lie, and I swear that the only reason that Bonnie wasn't laughing at that one was because she didn't actually want to get Troy in trouble at all. This time, the period of silence was less of Carver mulling things over, and more likely to be stoic silence that represented an attitude of ' _Really, you're going with that?'._

"...Funny, I didn't think that Bonnie was into schadenfreude" Carver countered that idea, but Troy was determined to stick with his lie. After all, being caught in a lie was likely to be much worse than sticking with it by that point.

"It was less of that, and more of her trying to teach the prisoner a lesson, you know?" Troy was clinging at straws by that point, and for the first time in my life I was actually feeling a little sorry for the guy. He was quite the piece of work in the game (hopefully not in that new world, but who knew?), but that didn't mean that I wished actual pain against him from being beaten with a walkie-talkie. "We had kept her still except for her legs, so it seemed appropriate to remind her that moving would only hurt her cause"

The continued silence didn't exactly sit well in my gut, but that wasn't anything new. Just as I was beginning to worry about whether Carver was going to shout through the walkie-talkie, the driver’s side door opening because of our stationary position. Waiting right outside the door was Russel, who gestured for the other to get out.

"It's time for the shift swap" Russel gave that reason for interrupting us, but I was able to piece together little bits of information from the looks on the faces of my two driving companions, as well as Troy glancing at what seemed to be a very old watch on his wrist. The time on that indicated that it was twenty-four past six... Which was an odd time to change, especially considering most people would likely operate on allocated time slots for shifts. Bonnie and Troy also seemed to look confused, so I started to wonder whether Russel had chosen his opportunity to help out the two from getting in trouble. "Come on, hurry up"

Troy and Bonnie didn't need to be told twice, carefully climbing out onto the dirt waiting outside of either of their doors. I couldn't help but notice the slight worried look that Bonnie gave me when... I think his name was Johnny? Took her place on the shotgun seat. Troy also seemed to stall a little bit outside the door of the driver’s seat, but I couldn't completely place what kind of emotion he directed toward me - Curiosity, perhaps - before he sighed and moved along to the back of the truck to keep watch alongside Carver and Bonnie.

Bonnie had been familiar territory, and while Troy was a bit harder to decipher, the both of them were sorely missed the moment the two new men ended up buckling themselves into the seats of the truck. Russel and I didn't have the best of introductions as it was, Johnny was a complete anomaly (you try figuring out a person's personality when they speak around two lines before dying) and while the initial indications showed that Bonnie and Troy weren't exactly the best of friends, that was nothing compared to Johnny and Russel with each other.

"Is it true that you can see into the future?" Johnny didn't even seem to have a single bit of tact in him, blatantly stumbling into the conversation that Carver no doubt had told them all in confidence. He was exactly like Mr. Parker had been in the first season; a complete stranger who died quickly before I could get a feel of who they were... And because he reminded me of that man, my mental defences shot up like no other. Luckily for me, I didn't have to entertain him at all with words, as Russel was more no-nonsense than Lilly was. "Because Carver-

"Shut up Johnny" Russel snapped, his hands steadily remaining on the steering wheel, showing that he was a far safer driver than the previous man had been in his seat. But while I felt like I was going to get nowhere with the man on my right, I hoped that like Troy; that there was something more to Russel than the game would give the impression of.

"...You're quite experienced with trucks, despite your age" I tried to start with something gentle to get the ball rolling, but it seemed that the younger man was not someone who could be sweet-talked.

"And you're a bit old to be believing in fairy tales" Russel bit back, which made me sigh internally. He undoubtedly didn't trust people much after his experience with both Steve and Nate, so it did mean that it was going to be just as hard to crack his rough exterior like it had been with convincing Alvin or Troy of my powers. Ah well, if he wasn't into being complimented, then I certainly could wield tough love like a sledgehammer, especially when combined with the fact I knew exactly what parts to hit.

"True. But I'd say that following around... Oh, say, three crazy white men is probably on par with that" I casually said that, enjoying the startled glance he spared me a little too much. He knew exactly which two previous people I was referring to, and if he had any sense, then he would be able to figure out who the third one was supposed to be.

"...Hm" After his wordless hum, he seemed to pretend like my words hadn't meant anything to him... But I could see that he was keeping an eye on me out of the corners of his peripheral vision for the rest of the ride back.

What felt like endless boring hours later (goodness, I honestly had wished that Troy and Bonnie had remained in the truck with me), we arrived at the familiar looking hardware store. The walker horde that was common place in the game was not visible no matter where I looked, so I supposed that was fine... As getting out that way was going to be much harder if Carver already knew about the trick of slipping between the dead covered in walker guts.

"You're coming with me" Russel bluntly informed me that even after spending the entire trip apart from my people, they were still not going to be letting me be with them. Likely another side effect of Carver being absolutely paranoid of what I could do, as I likely could coordinate some kind of plan within hours of being there if I really was forced to.

"I'm not even allowed to see how the others are doing?" I knew it was likely testing the irritable younger man already, but I couldn't help but be worried for the others now that I wasn't with them. Was Kenny still going to try and cut off his bindings in the back of the truck? Would Alvin immediately be called away the following morning? How was little Rose going to handle being out in the cold of the yard? All of these questions that plagued my mind as a natural side effect of having so many people that I cared about, but I wasn't able to alleviate any of them.

"No, not today" Russel's word inadvertently gave me a small hint of hope, as there could have been the possibility of giving a message over to the others even if I only was going to be working with people in five minute increments the following day. "Come on"

I mutely followed him as I hopped out of the truck, finding the blinding lights of the hardware store a bit too bright for my liking. Even as my eyes got adjusted to everything, and I could spy some of the familiar faces of my group filing out of the back of the truck, Russel's shotgun still ended up being a bigger attention grabber simply because of the associated danger with it. Doing my best to ignore the pained expressions of my lovers when they clearly saw me being corralled in a different direction, I noticed that I was being led over to one corner of the hardware store directly in the back left of the building, directly underneath the glass observation window where Carver watched us all.

"This is her" Russel spoke to a singular person who was lingering near a set of tall pallets, all of which had been organised into what seemed to be the shape of a decently sized square. Waiting near the slight crack of an entrance was the final familiar face from the characters in the DLC of the first game, my favourite one; Vince.

Vince glanced over me as gently pulled himself away from resting against the side of one pallet, some of his fingers tapping in a rhythm on the grip of the assault rifle in his hands. If the look that Vince directed back at his compatriot was anything to go by, then he truly was wondering whether I was the one that they had been warned about; as I likely looked very harmless in contrast to some of the more grizzled people they had met in their time at the hardware store. Even Jane likely struck a more imposing figure (considering her first introduction had her covered in walker guts, which was never a lovely sight), despite my growth in terms of muscles.

"... _This_ is her?" Vince repeated the sentence, but it was clear that he was absolutely bewildered on how I could frighten his boss this bad. Russel had seen first-hand just how feisty I could be in battle and in terms of words that I threw around, but of course he couldn't exactly convey that to his friend without sounding equally crazy and like a frightened lamb. Eventually, Russel settled for shrugging his shoulders, before walking off and effectively leaving the problem up to Vince. "...Jesus, alright I guess. You're staying here"

With those words, Vince gestured behind him into the centre of the pallet square, which I peered a bit into. Directly in the centre of the square was a stretcher, with a thin blanket to provide me with some basic warmth as I slept. No pillow, but it was far more than I had expected from an evil dictator.

I was trying my best to see the silver lining in the moment, but the sight of the bed only seemed to remind me of the remark that Rebecca would make when she ended up in the yard; about how Carver would punish her, and yet try to make her comfortable at the same time. Classic signs of abusive behaviour... Especially when combined with his disgusting words that he had said to me after pulling the trigger on that revolver.

"There's also a bible in there, in case you need something to read" Vince seemed to take my silence as a kind of reaction out of fear, but I did find my mind thinking about things that the bible would be useful for. While I certainly was atheist myself, the paper in that book could prove useful to me.

"Oh, thank you" I thanked him, before moving into the pallet square. It was a little jarring to hear him follow in after me, before pulling closed the one entrance to that square. Another odd request that Carver had made; to literally make sure that I _did_ sleep throughout the night rather than plotting his demise. To be fair, I would be doing that, but that didn't mean that I wasn't going to be making fun of him for it. "I'm Primrose by the way; it's nice to finally meet you"

I had purposefully chosen those words to inform him that I did actually know who he was, and the typical reaction of astonishment combined with suspicion reared its head once again. Like most people so far, he seemed to display a healthy amount of scepticism for what I could do... But at the very least, he was far friendlier than any of the others had been initially.

"...Hello, I'm Vince" After he allowed himself to calm down from the weird feeling of encountering someone with unusual powers, he quietly introduced himself to me. There was no indication of a handshake from either of us, that wasn't really that normal anymore since the dead started to walk, but I did find a small smile appearing on my face at the fact that he wasn't being antagonistic towards me. "But then again, I suppose you already know that"

"It's still nicer to do introductions, I find" I stated my feelings on the matter, and his head nodded slowly along after my words to show that he found it more comfortable to do it that way as well. While skipping past the awkward _talk_ I often had with people about my powers was somewhat of a relief, that didn't mean that this new form of introducing came without its own hurdles. "I have to admit, this is the first time I've introduced myself to people who already know about my predictions. Most of them only learn much later about it"

Right as Vince's mouth seemed to open to ask some other question or say something else in response, the speakers in the store seemed to come online; Carver's voice coming through them on his speech about how they had new 'family members' arriving at the store. I purposefully ignored it, instead choosing to take the moment while Vince was distracted to open the bible that had been left on the bed for me. Quickly skimming through it to find a flyleaf (a blank page often found at the beginning or ends of a book), I tore it out while the noise of Carver's gravelly voice reverberated through the store.

By the time Vince glanced back down at me, I had already placed the bible back in it's spot and tucked the flyleaf into one of my cargo belt pockets. One of the downsides of darting off so hurriedly from the Moonstar lodge did mean that they didn't check my pockets well enough, so I still had a number of things on me to use.

"You're probably better off going to bed sooner rather than later" Vince recommended that course of action to me, as he likely knew what the prisoners in his place often had to do for work to 'fit back into society'. Whether Carver would even let me anywhere near the others was debatable, so I likely couldn't rely on that. "I'll be keeping watch"

"Thank you Vince" I genuinely thanked him, as there was a part of me that was relieved to be being watched over by someone like him. While people weren't always exactly as they were in the game, I felt comfortable rolling over while he kept guard. He certainly didn't seem to act like some kind of psycho working underneath Carver (which is what the game portrayed most of them as, beyond Bonnie), fitting closer to what a real life person would likely be like in that situation; a good person working for the wrong man. "Good night"

The meagre chuckle coming from his mouth seemed to suggest that he didn't believe that he really would be getting any sleep that night, but appreciated the polite sentiment nonetheless. In a way, that was exactly how I was going to be taking down Carver; by simply being a polite human being who wants nothing more than to save her group and have a happy ending. I'll let him dig his own grave in contrast, looking on with an innocent (perhaps a bit overplayed, but in contrast to Carver I really was an angel) expression on my face.

As the lights started to dim in that store and I could slowly see the tell-tale signs of Vince's head occasionally dipping in a tired slump, I carefully took out the flyleaf from my cargo belt along with an old piece of charcoal that I still kept on me. Under the cover of darkness, I wrote a careful message on that note, before tucking it away in the skin fold underneath my breasts (in the rare chance that they actually wizened up and took my cargo belt off me). After deciding to save the picture of Lee as well, I could only hope that I would have a good time to drop off that message to the others in the yard...

**_"Do not let Alvin go on his own to Carver's office"_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More memes! :3
> 
> https://imgflip.com/i/42u7tk
> 
> https://imgflip.com/i/42u7uo
> 
> https://imgflip.com/i/42u7v3
> 
> https://imgflip.com/i/42u7w1
> 
> https://imgflip.com/i/42u7wj


	23. First Day on the Job

That following morning, I got woken up not by the sunlight drifting onto my face as usual, but by the really tender feeling of someone placing their hands on my shoulder. They didn't even dare to shake me, which allowed me to open my eyes bleakly and turn to see who exactly was rousing me from the land of slumber.

"It's about time to get up" Vince spoke softly to me, his tired eyes spelling out that he had gotten very little sleep despite his head occasionally slumping throughout the night. It was quite a friendly gesture, especially in comparison to the kick that the player would receive from Troy... Speaking of Troy, it seemed that he was going to be a more common presence in my waking hours than I had originally expected from Carver's orders. "I thought you might want some extra time to gather your thoughts, considering the fact this spot is generally where we - our guards - gather first thing in the morning"

"Oh, thanks" I mumbled as I began to wake up, rubbing my eyes a little bit as I sat up on the stretcher. Once he registered that I wasn't just casually going to be rolling back over and going back to sleep, he gently took a step back to give me a modicum of privacy. "You're very nice to me, despite the circumstances"

"I figured that as long as you act like a civilised being, that there's no real harm in me treating you as such" Vince explained his reasoning behind it, which I supposed made extra sense due to his backstory. He likely had encountered people who treated him like absolute garbage while he was on his way to prison, so he knew that feeling of being mistreated in situations where authority figures lorded over us. "I will have to ask you to hand over the... Belt thing that you're wearing around your waist though"

"Aw, really?" My tone came out in a mixture of disappointment and a slight hint of teasing, as I was honestly surprised that it took them so long to realise that I had yet to relinquish it to them. Even if their logic was that it wasn't big enough to be hiding weapons in, that still was odd... And luckily for me, Vince's ever so quiet chuckle seemed to say that he didn't mind the joke I making out of it. "I don't suppose I'm pretty enough to warrant special treatment?"

"You're unfortunately asking the wrong kind of person for that kind of favour; I don't really focus on how attractive people are" I learned even more about him as I carefully undid the cargo belt, taking special care to not disturb my shirt so that my picture of Lee and the warning message were still hidden underneath the folds of my breasts. While for most other people those words would have been brushed off, I couldn't help but wonder if he was referring to the fact that he had a different opinion on sexuality than most.

"You're asexual?" I guessed that (despite most people considering it to be leaping a bit too far in logic), and I was equally surprised and elated to see that I was correct; Vince nodded his head with a small smile on his face when I handed the belt over to him. He did a quick check through the pockets, but he didn't find anything beyond the piece of charcoal, some bits of food and my leftover bullets. "In that case, can I interest you in a fine romantic evening with a lovely meal, some scented candles and my stellar personality?"

"You don't have two of those things" Vince chuckled quite heartily by that point, spelling out that he wasn't aromantic at the same time (as otherwise I would have imagined that he would simply have corrected me by stating that he wasn't going to be swayed by that either). Not just that, as he only mentioned that I was missing two of the three things I had mentioned... Which caused me to smile; as I had a strong inkling that he was implying that I did have the last one.

Our cheery little moment with each other got interrupted by the sound of someone knocking on the pallet's that formed the square we were situated in. Long before Vince could respond with 'come in' or something along those lines, somebody seemed to open it immediately, coming right in despite not being invited in.

"Troy, seriously?" Vince asked the moustached man in exasperation, which immediately earned him a pointed look from the latter as if to ask what the problem was with him doing so. "What if she was getting changed or something?"

"Even if she knew that you were ace, I highly doubt that she would just casually get changed in front of you" Troy countered his reasoning easily, before stretching a little; showing that this little corner of the store really was their special spot to go to before the day got started. I did find myself wondering why he so casually brushed off the fact that his comrade was different than most (i.e. I expected him to jab and poke fun at Vince rather than accept it as a normal thing), but perhaps that was another part of the man that I had never really gotten to know in the game. His attention soon turned to me, giving me yet another glance at those very elusive curious emotions that he had somewhere in him. "...You look like you survived the rest of the trip back alright"

"It wasn't nearly as entertaining after you left, but yes" It felt a little... Odd, speaking to him in such a casual manner, especially when one half of my mind was continuously warning me that he was dangerous. Other than that half of my mind, the saying that 'curiosity killed the cat' certainly seemed to bear fruit yet again in terms of learning more about him. His facial expression seemed to hint that he doubted my claim that I truly had missed Bonnie and him in the truck, but no matter how long he stared at me he couldn't find anything in my expression to support those doubts.

Immediately after Troy came another knock, with this person patiently waiting until Vince granted them access. In walked Bonnie, just tying her ginger hair into a pony tail after her night, yawning softly into the back of her hand after she was done.

"Did you sleep alright?" She seemed to have warmed up to me in the meantime, as she was no longer jumpy around me. No, by far she had morphed into her polite and friendly version that I recognised her directing towards Clementine the majority of the time, which only served to make me smile gratefully at her and nod my head. "Thank goodness, at least that means somebody in this group of four got a decent rest"

"You guys are aware that you're not supposed to be talking to the prisoner, right?" Russel announced himself long before he knocked on the pallets, which caused Vince to open it for him before the young adult even had to lift one of his hands away from his shotgun. He yet again seemed to regard me with a wary glance, but it certainly seemed to be better than regarding me with casual indifference like he had been doing before. It seemed that the four of them were not the only guards that often got ready there in the morning, because Russel seemed to glance around me and behind several others to look for the missing people. "I thought Wyatt and Shel were supposed to be back by now"

The sounds of someone angrily shoving open a door at one side of the store seemed to interrupt Bonnie's explanation, and they sounded legitimately _pissed._ Their anger ended up clouding their typical voice, as Bonnie, Vince, Troy and Russel seemed to ready their weapons; as though they couldn't recognise who it was. I had been trained a little better than them on listening to things around me, so I purposely focused my mind on those noises; recognising not just who it was, but also picking up the much smaller sounds of someone trailing behind that person.

"...I think that's Wyatt and Shel" I decided to inform the four twitchy guards standing around me, lest they accidentally shoot one of their allies in the ensuing confusion. It was clear from the collective disbelieving and confused looks that I was greeted with that they didn't think it was possible (both in the fact that I was able to recognise them and that it was actually them in the first place). I didn't need to prove myself this time however, as soon one of the pallets was yanked open, showing none other than...

"Jesus fucking Christ" Wyatt looked incredibly tired, with bloodshot red eyes and a significant droop in his posture that was only corrected ever so slightly by the anger fuelling his last energy reserves. He also looked incredibly wet, as though he had been forced to walk in the rain... Which may have happened during the night, as I had heard the gentle sounds of rain when I was lying in bed the previous night. "Not only do you assholes leave Shel, myself and our teams in the dust after that colossal operation, but now you're threatening to shoot me?"

"Wyatt, we didn't have much of a choice" Bonnie tried to smooth things over as both sopping wet members of the guard piled into the pallet square, but the man being addressed didn't look like he was in the mood to be placated. "Carver said-

"Oh honestly, fuck Carver" Wyatt looked about as done with the man as I had felt ever since learning about him, and I had to stop myself from cheekily agreeing with him. As he started to wring out various bits of his clothing and long hair all over the tiled floor (which Russel and Troy predictably complained about when the droplets accidentally splashed on them), he seemed to notice me there; recognising that I wasn't one of the typical people supposed to be there. "...So who are you supposed to be?"

"This is the prisoner" Russel answered for me, and I was honestly getting a bit sick of the nickname from him.

"I have a name Russel" I reminded him, but his dismissive sneer seemed to imply that he wasn't really keen on switching to actually using my name. Furthermore, despite me already proving to him that I knew a big chunk of his history, he wasn't keen on me calling him by his given name either.

"Don't call me that"

"Would you rather I call you asswipe? Nah, maybe Nate works better for you"

"Hey, fuck-

"Cut it out, you're both giving me a headache" Vince sighed heavily at Russel and my bickering, pinching his nose a little. The others fell silent when he spoke, which did seem to imply that he commanded _some_ sort of respect from the lot of them. "But I guess the rest of you haven't really done introductions with her... So yeah, this is Primrose"

Bonnie and Troy didn't really introduce themselves, as perhaps they felt that I already knew who they were simply because I recognised everyone else. Shel gave me a curt nod, despite all not seeming like she knew what to do with me, and Russel decided to remain silent even when I glanced over at him. Wyatt however, seemed the most surprised to learn that I was _the_ person that Carver had been telling stories about; similar to how Vince had been startled to see that I was just a typical looking woman despite my supposed knowledge.

"...You're the person?" Wyatt asked me, as though he was beginning to think that Carver had just picked up some random person and made up things about them.

"If by 'the person', you mean the one who has knowledge about the future, then yes" I decided that it was best to get things out of the way, as lying about it wouldn't do any more good now that I had shown some of my abilities to several of them. Despite my admission, Wyatt still seemed to be doubtful, just like Troy likely still was. "I don't really look like I do, do I?"

"Not really" Wyatt murmured, with several others nodding their heads loosely as though they still found it a difficult concept to get behind. "I guess I was expecting someone with blue hair, three breasts or an alien... Who knows, perhaps a combination of all of those"

"Really Wyatt, three breasts? Gross" Shel sighed beside him, clearly not understanding that Wyatt was not referring to himself actually thinking of what I would have looked like in the nude.

"What? No, it's a reference to- Ugh, nevermind" Wyatt started to explain his side of things, but ultimately gave up when he realised that the others in there likely wouldn't have understood the reference even if he told it in excruciating detail. Instead, he seemed to go for another ling of logic, one that would tell why he wouldn't be interested in creeping on the female prisoner in their midst. "Besides, you know I don't swing that way"

...Huh, Wyatt was gay. It was never really confirmed in the game, but I supposed it was a pretty neat thing to learn about regardless.

"I don't know, maybe you decided to change your mind about it" Shel inadvertently stuck her foot in her mouth with that sentence, and I could have sworn that I could _hear_ Wyatt's blood pressure shoot through the roof. Not just him, as I found myself, Vince and... Surprisingly, Troy, raise our eyebrows in a clear signal that we thought that was an uncalled for remark.

"I'm sorry; change my _mind_ about it?!" Wyatt immediately challenged her on that remark, clearly not willing to let that one go by without at least chastising her for her poor choice of words.

"You know I didn't mean it like that; that was poor wording" Shel immediately explained herself, but even so, I could see that several people around that circle of six were already wishing that the day was long done. "Never mind, how has Becca been since I've been gone?"

"Your sister is still as irritating as ever, now let's go" Troy abruptly ended the conversation being loosely lobbed around, as glancing at his watch likely told him that they were going to be late if they waited much longer. I had to try my hardest to not snort in laughter as I followed him out, as the look on Shel's face was priceless when she was told the truth about her sister. "You're walking at the front of us Prim; I'm not planning on Carver having an aneurysm because you're walking behind someone"

"I'd be careful about addressing me as Prim; Carver has correctly identified that nickname as an indication of someone being my lover" I decided warn them early about using that around their boss, as it would be awkward for far more reasons than confusing their leader. It was only after I said it that I realised that Bonnie, Troy and Russel might have been paying more attention during our capture - and as such might realise that I had more than a singular lover - but none of them seemed to really blink at my words... So perhaps I could get away with that.

"Ugh, but 'Primrose' is long enough to be a pain in my ass" Troy seemed to get annoyed with having to stick to my longer name, but the only real response I could give to that was to shrug my shoulders. If he wanted to get in trouble with his boss for the simple convenience of a name, then that was up to him. "...Fine, whatever"

With those six guards trudging behind me, I walked over to the roller door that was still closed. It likely would strike them as a little odd that I already knew where I was going, but it was just another hint that I actually knew more than my appearance would give away. With Vince breaking off from their group to quickly roll the door open (and I naturally flinched a bit from the sudden sunlight streaming into my eyes), we walked out into the yard.

It took some people in the yard a moment to even register that the door had opened, as some of them had been quite deep in their restless sleep. The first ones up were Omid and Carlos respectively, as the former had been stoking the weak fire in the middle of their yard while the latter had likely just remained up the whole night as he always did.

"Prim!...Rose, are you okay?" Omid's sentence naturally sounded a little stilted, as he only realised partway through that he was supposed to be referring to me with my full name lest he give away more about the relationship with me. Luckily he managed to save it at the last second, sounding less like a flub and more like a nervous twitch.

"I'm alright" I did my best to reassure him without taking a step forward, as I had a feeling that wouldn't go too well over with the guards standing behind me. Just as I had expected, the moment Omid came forward to touch me I could hear the sound of a gun shifting to point at him. It certainly made the Persian man pause, warily wondering why on earth he wasn't being allowed near me. "I'm alright Omid, I promise"

Despite the fact that he really didn't seem like he wanted to, Omid reluctantly retreated a step and had to accept my verbal assurance as it was. Others started to rouse and shift behind him, finally cluing those in behind me who hadn't seen it before that... There honestly were a lot of people in my group.

"Jesus, I didn't realise there were so many" Wyatt whispered underneath his breath, as in total twenty people all came forward to join Omid and Carlos standing in front of us. They even seemed like they were beginning to get a little intimidated by the sheer amount of people once Jane, Mike and Reggie joined them, a wall of twenty five standing in front of them... And that was even with Pete, Duck, Shawn and the animals not being present.

"Vince?" A single voice in the crowd seemed to recognise the Asian man standing behind me, and before long Glenn managed to muscle his way past Mark and Carley to actually see the man standing there properly. A small theory that I used to have started to bubble back up the surface, one which I had shed a long time ago because there simply was little proof behind it at the time. Surely those two weren't...

"...Glenn?" Vince truly did recognise the other, despite the fact it seemed to take him much longer than it had taken Glenn. I glanced backwards at him to try and figure out what on earth was going on between them both, and Vince seemed compelled to answer my curious glance despite the fact he owed me nothing by then. "Is he with your group? He's... He's my little brother"

"Great, why am I not surprised to see you with this lot of monsters?" It seemed that despite their family relation, Glenn was _not_ happy to see his older brother; especially considering the fact he was part of the group that had kidnapped us all. Vince tried to open his mouth to explain, give some excuse, whatever it was; Glenn wasn't going to listen to it. "No, don't bother. I'm not even disappointed anymore, considering how many times this has happened"

"Oh, holy shit!"

That final worried whisper coming from Wyatt yet again was because Nick seemed to be coming forward with a look akin to a murderous rage on his face, and even Luke's attempts to calm down his best friend seemed to be going in one ear and out the other. Even when Wyatt and the others there lifted their weapons to threaten him, he seemed to still be storming over like a bull having a flag waved in front of it, so I did the final ditch effort to shift ever so slightly to my side to impede his progress. That finally seemed to make him pause, the palm of my hand reaching up firmly against his chest as if to keep him as far away as possible.

"Nick, _don't_ " I didn't know what he was exactly up to, but I could tell that it wasn't going to end well for him if I moved out of the way. He still was looking at me like he couldn't understand why I was stopping him, but that feeling was mutual; I couldn't tell what had exactly gotten him so bothered under the collar. "Whatever happened, this isn't going to end well for you if you do this"

"Prim, get out of the way" I could see Bonnie look confused at Nick's use of my nickname, glancing between me and the man I was talking to. Thankfully most people's logic wouldn't equal their first thought being 'oh, she's poly', so she seemed to simply think that it was a mere slip-up on Nick's part rather than anything else.

"Why?" My curiosity won out over just simply telling him to back up, as I of course couldn't use logic to get him to back up if I didn't understand what was setting him off. Nick's hand came up in a finger jabbing motion, and I momentarily thought that he was gesturing at me, when I realised that his finger was pointing directly over my head. I turned ever so slightly to follow the direction that finger was pointing, to realise that it was pointing at none other than... Wyatt?

"That motherfucker got my mother killed!" Nick angrily accused the bespectacled guard, with Wyatt's horrified look signifying that Nick was likely correct. Whether it had been on purpose or by accident, Wyatt had been involved in that particular death.

"Nick, it was an accident!" Wyatt told him this, his tone seemingly implying that this was nowhere near the first time they had this row before. Who knows, perhaps that exact incident had been the solidifying reason for Nick and Pete leaving with Luke in the first place, beyond just because the man had been his best friend.

"Bullshit! You-

The sound of a revolver firing caused several people to flinch, myself included because of the harsh noise ringing through my ears. When my eyes opened a moment later I was relieved to see that nobody had actually been shot at... But it did mean that Carver had arrived; him standing off to the side with the weapon pointed upwards to stop the arguing.

"Ah Nick, still such the hothead. Just like your mother, I suppose" Carver degradingly spoke to the man, tilting the revolver downwards so that now it was aiming at him instead. Nick didn't look like he was going to listen (especially not after he made such a remark about his mother), but my insistent look combined with Luke's gentle pulling eventually caused the young adult to back up, and I slotted back to my original spot in front of Bonnie in my line of guards. "Much better. Now we can..."

Carver seemed to trail off as he looked at the people lined up there, even mouthing numbers after a while as he counted the familiar faces that he recognised. Now in broad daylight, he was able to tell that he was missing one familiar person, and it didn't take much longer for him to figure out who exactly was missing (much faster compared to his in game counterpart, who had never even mentioned the older man even if Nick was still alive by that point in time).

"Where's Pete?" He pointedly asked the three guards that had been present with him on the journey back to the hardware store, as of course the other three couldn't have had a clue about where the man was supposed to be. At the mention of the man, Troy, Bonnie and Russel glanced over the group of twenty-five, only to realise that he was well and truly was missing.

"Who the hell is Pete?" Kenny made the smart decision to play dumb, even though I was quite certain that he knew who they were talking about. After all, if all of my original group (along with Sarita, Walter and Matthew) pretended to not know who that was, then a lie such as Pete already being dead was all the more believable. Those within the group from the first season aptly played along, glancing around themselves in believable ways as though they were looking for someone that they had never met before, with little Rose even babbling uselessly in Christa's arms as though she was playing along.

"...Pete died six weeks ago" Alvin made up the lie, even sounding like he legitimately was somber despite the fact Pete hadn't actually died. Carver glanced over at me to see whether he could pick up anything from my facial features, but he was only met by my typical stone face, not giving him anything either way. With nobody blabbing about Shawn or Duck's missing details, it seemed to be that Carver bought it.

"That's certainly what happens to sheep without a shepherd to guide them" Carver decided that it was probably for the best that the older man wasn't there, and Nick gave a convincing angry reaction to such a dismissive nature of his Uncle (likely because he was still hyped up on adrenaline from before as it was). With me rolling my eyes as he started to recite another one of his silly "sermons" to everyone present there, I started to wonder how I was going to drop off my special message if I was being watched constantly.

I didn't have much time to really think about that, as I could hear just a tad bit of Sarah talking to Clementine next to her; asking the younger girl if she slept well. Clementine was polite but brief, telling her that she slept fine but that they needed to listen. I quickly made sure that Clementine was looking at me before I gave her some signals with my hand and a single head tilt. My little girl understood perfectly what I was saying; Sarah needed to stop talking lest there be trouble coming her way. Clementine certainly had her ways, just gently holding onto the taller girl’s hand which shut Sarah up because of the embarrassed yet happy look on the latter's face... But it seemed to be that Carver was not as blind as the game variant of himself, yet again.

"And what was _that_?" Carver wasn't asking Sarah or Clementine that, he was asking _me_ that, tilting his head angrily at me like I had somehow disrespected him. While silently sighing internally, I had a feeling that Carver had simply woken up on the wrong side of the bed that day; eager to get someone in trouble for the most minor of things.

"I was informing my daughter that she and her friend needed to be quiet during your speech" I answered him honestly, but it seemed like Carver wouldn't believe me beyond hearing the words 'I'm doing it to conspire against you' come right out of my mouth. Even though my initial answer could have legitimately gotten the two girls in trouble, it seemed to be all for naught.

"...I don't believe you" It was ironic, as that one of the very first times I honestly was not working against him in any context. He was just in the mood to be exceedingly paranoid, I suppose. "Now, how about you try that again? With honesty this time, if you please"

"Why would she be lying the first time around?!" Lilly asked him, clearly believing that there was no point to me answering the second time around if the first time didn't really work. Carver simply pointed his revolver in her direction, while still standing there and waiting for me to answer him; possibly even using the gun to try and influence me to answer the way he wanted because I had seen that this one was loaded. With my own anger levels rising on par with how many others likely felt, I lost my cool that time around.

"You're right sir, that wasn't what I was going to say" I mockingly addressed him with the title of 'sir', despite the fact he and everyone else present likely could hear from my tone of voice that it was anything less than genuine. "What I actually meant to say was 'Kiss my ass'... _Sir"_

I enjoyed it far too much when I saw his blank face turn into a disgruntled one, as it was far from the complete obedience that he was wanting. While he may have wished for me and others to be a complete doormat, he was sorely mistaken if he was going to be anything along those lines.

"Carlos" Carver called the doctor by name, clearly aiming to get a similar result from the Hispanic man and I as he had managed to get while we were in front of the lodge; to hurt the both of us physically and mentally. Carlos flinched at his name being called, but didn't answer, hoping that the man would drop it if he remained silent. "Carlos, I am _speaking_ to you. Answer me like a good boy"

"...Yes?" Carlos looked physically sick when he finally responded, nervously swallowing when Carver then gestured for him to step forward. Sarah looked like she was about to reach out and hold her father's hand in fright, but Katjaa gently intervened, trying her best to reassure the young girl that things would be fine.

"Bill, please-

"Shut up" Carver cut Rebecca off, ruining her attempt to help either of us. If anything, it seemed to make the man more irritable, gesturing more impatiently for Carlos to come forward to stand beside us. Taking a nervous step forward, Carlos seemed to practically jump on the spot when Carver harshly slapped him on the shoulder, the latter man clearly invading his space as he leered at me. "You quite like Prim, don't you? Maybe even love her?"

Carlos' eyes glanced between the man uncomfortably holding him in a grip and myself, wondering if answering affirmatively would help or hinder the situation. Truthfully I had no clue, as Carver's earlier indicators showed quite clearly that he would twist a situation to however he wanted it, so I could only give him a sympathetic look that said that I wouldn't be mad at him with whatever he decided to say.

"...Very much" Carlos eventually settled for quietly saying that, having difficulty in saying much more in the presence of strangers. Carver likely had done so on purpose, as I knew first hand that Carlos was not a very public man about a lot of his feelings... So being forced to talk about something so tender likely was making his stomach turn.

"See, was that so hard?" Carver mockingly patted the other on the shoulder, further exacerbating the problem by drawing attention to how private Carlos was. The doctor tried to momentarily escape by shutting his eyes and taking in deep breaths, but the dictator wasn't quite done with him. "There's a bit of a problem though, she doesn't seem to have learned any manners. You're quite a polite person, so it's quite a shame she didn't pick up on any of that... You probably should teach her what that means"

Carlos' eyes shot open at that suggestion, looking at Carver in horror. If he was talking about what I think he was... Then effectively, I was going to be taking the place of Sarah in that moment. The horrified expressions of my other lovers seemed to entirely fill one side of my vision, but I knew that one of them trying to interrupt would end up with someone getting shot.

"I... I don't know what-

"Come on, you've seen 'Sleeping with the Enemy', haven't you?" Carver couldn't have picked a worse movie to reference, because of course he would pick one that showed an abusive relationship. Of course, that movie did also end with the abused victim shooting their abuser, so it was all around a stupid movie to use in that context. With another clap to Carlos' shoulders, Carver stepped back as though to give the doctor enough room to really swing wide in his strike. "Go on, we're all waiting"

Carlos looked at me, obviously hesitant to do anything of the sort (bless his heart, he was such a gentle soul), and I settled for taking a deep breath in. Refusing to hit me would likely lead to far worse consequences, so I gave him a patient look as I remained completely still. Carlos slowly brought up his hand with his palm facing towards one of my cheeks (as backhanding me would likely hurt much worse with the knuckles striking me), dawdling a little there as his hand seemed to tremble at the idea of it. He likely would have held his hand there for a long time if it wasn't for the impatient tapping of Carver's foot; causing him to pull back his hand ever so slightly to get it over with.

When he finally brought his hand forward to slap me, it was going pitifully slow, barely making a sound against the skin on my left cheek. Even so, it seemed that Carlos was absolutely apologetic for even daring to touch me in such a manner.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry-

"You're fine Carlos, it won't hurt that bad" I quickly talked over him, just wanting to get it over so that neither he nor I would get into trouble. Carlos tried yet again, but the second slap was just as bad as the first one, only causing a very tiny noise from my cheek but not much else.

"Oh, for fu- Troy!" Carver clearly was sick of my cheek just being patted, angrily calling for who was the most likely person to actually strike hard to come forward out of the guards. Troy did step forward, but the look on his face was less glee from wanting to hit someone, and more like he was confused as to why he was being called. "Show him how it is done!"

"...It did look like she was just telling the girls to shush though" Troy seemed to not understand what the big deal was about, but one look at Carver's face told him that it wasn't a smart idea to really try and use logic to change my fate. "Okay, okay! I'm going"

Carlos got moved to the side when Troy pushed him back in line with the rest of the people standing around, with him looking partially relieved due to not having to do it anymore, but still sending me an apologetic glance anyway. As Troy took his place in front of me, I once again took a deep breath as Troy lined up his own hand... As I had a strong feeling that the moustached guard wasn't really going to hold back like Carlos did.

I was right; the moment Troy reared back his hand he firmly and confidently brought it back to strike me, a loud _crack_ sound reverberating around the yard right as his hand slapped me. While my head did get jerked to one side (as most people who were slapped do), I didn't get struck so hard that I ended up thrown to the floor. Even as my left cheek (it was always my left side!) started to sting and swell from the blood rushing there, I was just grateful that it was over with by then; a cheeky remark even leaving my mouth a second later to reassure my group that I was fine.

"...You hit like an absolute pansy Troy" I said that as I huffed a hair out of my face, as it truly was nowhere near the time Larry full-on walloped me in the face. A single note of laughter escaped Troy's lips, almost sounding like he was proud of me for not crying in front of him, but still with the amount of warning to remind me not to test people.

"I can hit you again, you know" Troy reminded me, but unfortunately for him that remark just made me want to respond yet again.

"You probably shouldn't; I'd likely enjoy it far too much" Right as I said that Troy's face twisted in another hilarious combination of surprise and dismay, and it took all my willpower to not laugh at it right there and then.

"Alright, enough of that" Carver had clearly decided that he had expended enough of his asshole attitude that day, not wanting to remain there the whole day with people smacking me in the face... Especially not with the remote possibility that I may enjoy it. "Troy, you're keeping an eye on her the whole day while getting your work done. Everybody else, take five of these people and get some jobs done around the compound"

With that, Carver whirled around and decided that we were sufficiently warned, stalking off to some other job until he returned later. Troy sighed a little from all of the theatrics, remaining there for a moment longer to make sure nothing really was going to go wrong. While Bonnie and her compatriots started to go around and pick out five each of the people straggling around in the yard (it wasn't a real surprise that Wyatt had a 'begs not' moment with Nick), I noticed that it was the very first time that I was not being watched with an eagle eye.

I first purposefully stretched upwards so that the papers on my body would be dislodged ever so slightly from underneath my breasts, doing so multiple times so that it didn't look odd to the guards in the corners of their eyes. Once the papers were loose and dropped down to my waist, I moved my hands down there to readjust my shirt against my jodhpurs... Or at least, that's what people thought I was doing; in actuality I was carefully picking out the papers by hand. After doing another stretch (by crossing one arm over my chest with another one doing something else), I managed to stick back the picture of Lee without much trouble through one of my sleeves. Then, finally, I carefully dropped the paper behind my back so that it landed right behind my right foot.

After skidding my right foot a little bit across the ground to consciously attract the attention of someone in my group, I was rewarded for my work; Travis noticing the paper right behind my foot. He carefully snuck over to me, before sticking out his foot so that it purposefully was covering the paper, sliding both his foot and the message closer towards himself. He too was quite smart, as he pretended to lean down and redo the shoelaces on his sneakers, using the closer proximity to the ground to snatch the paper from the floor before hiding it within his sleeve.

"Alright, let's go before Carver comes back" It seemed to be just the right timing, as soon after Troy gestured for he and I to leave together. As he and I left together, I managed to glance behind me at just the right time to spy Travis sneaking a peek at the note in his sleeve, before acquiring a determined look on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I... May have gone a little overboard with memes this time around, haha >_>
> 
> https://imgflip.com/i/433o3i
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> https://imgflip.com/i/433o55
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> https://imgflip.com/i/433o65
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> https://imgflip.com/i/433o84
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> https://imgflip.com/i/433o95
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> https://imgflip.com/i/433o9q


	24. One in the Chamber

As much as I would have dreaded the option of spending the entire day with Troy before traveling to this new world, it didn't turn out to be anywhere near as bad as I had expected it to be. Granted, I still had been struck across the face by him, but on the other hand...

"Stupid idiots... Damnit, making me come get their stupid radios... Gonna take me forever..."

...He was pretty harmless, with most of his aggression coming out in the form of passive aggressive muttering under his breath. The majority of the first hour I had been 'assigned' to him, he had been going around their expanded hardware store to collect leftover radios that the guards and sentries had been using overnight. Perhaps it was down to the fact it was included in his list of tasks, which meant that all of the others had built up a kind of attitude of 'manana manana' (quite like the Spanish) in terms of properly returning their little communication devices. Even when he had them all, he still had to return them properly to their little docking devices, so at that current moment he was angrily slotting them back into those machines.

 _Clunk._ One of the walkie-talkies that he tried to drop into a slot didn't quite fit correctly, which caused it to unceremoniously bounce back out and land on the wooden table instead. With a huff, he picked that one specific one back up, made sure to put it back in more carefully... Before returning to his habit of dropping them in, which likely meant he was going to get a repeat of that one shortly afterward.

I considered offering my help to him, but I could foresee that he likely would turn it down for a multitude of reasons. Not only was he in a sour mood, but there was the high chance that he would assume that I would try to snatch one of the devices and hide it somewhere on my body. As such, I soon closed my mouth right after I opened it, seeing no real point in trying to hurry him.

Besides, it wasn't like he wasn't paying attention to me. Even in moments when his head was completely turned down to his task, I could notice that even something as simple as me shifting from one foot to another would cause his head to tilt ever so slightly; watching me with an intensity that reminded me of a hawk. Furthermore, he had gotten real annoyed when one of his comrades insinuated that he wasn't keeping a proper eye on me, chewing out the first (and admittedly, every subsequent one after the first) stranger to make such an accusation towards him.

Taking into consideration his earlier remark about how Carver wouldn't like to see me walking behind the guard, I had at one point changed my style of standing around with Troy; moving to stand directly in front of whatever he was doing so that I was easily visible to him at all times. I couldn't quite decipher if it was relief or a thankful nature, but from the moment I adopted that approach to him I could spy that his shoulders seemed to relax and his eyes (which were a light brown, now that I had looked at them long enough) no longer watched me so intensely.

"...What is it?" He asked me without taking his eyes off his task, as I had been staring at his face for a while by then. Truth be told, I didn't actually have any remarks to make or questions to ask, but I had the inkling that he would have been more uncomfortable if I admitted that I was staring for no discernible reason.

"I guess I was wondering how annoying it is to keep an eye on me" I completely took a stab in the dark, as I really was unsure of how he felt on that subject (both as to why I was asking and what his answer would be).

"Eh, I've done worse" His answer was neither affirmative nor negative, which I supposed that I should have expected from him. Even so, there still was that part of my British pride that wanted to react in a snippy manner to such a non-committal answer.

"You're all heart" I sarcastically replied to that, and his initial response to that was to make an enigmatic chuckle. Like so many of his strange glances, I couldn't really discern what kind of emotion he attached to that laugh, but I supposed that it didn't matter.

Within minutes of that conversation passing between us, he had mercifully completed his long task of retrieving those walkie-talkies. With a slight stretch to one of his arms, we were about to set off for our next destination when his very own radio attached to his belt proceeded to flare into life, with a familiar sounding woman calling his name.

"Troy, are you there?" It sounded like Bonnie was calling him, her country accent shining through even with the extra haze of the radio static to contend with. The two of them were not exactly on friendly terms (or who knows, maybe that was their indication that they actually were really close?), as Troy seemed to deem a simple grunt through the device to be all she was getting. "Is Prim still with you?"

" _Primrose"_ Troy's response was quite sharp, pointedly reminding the woman that the nickname she had accidentally(?) used to address me was not the right one. It may have been something as simple that Troy thought 'if I can't use it, then neither can you' in terms of the name, but it was certainly... Odd, for a man who claimed that he felt nothing more than indifference towards me. Even if it turned out to be that he hated me, I was quite certain by then that his claims of not caring were bogus. "And of course she's still with me, what were you expecting?"

"I'm not sure. Part of me thought that Carver may have wanted her to come up to her office" Bonnie absentmindedly started to list the reasons as to why I may have not been around Troy, almost as though she had thought a lot on the subject. With the way she was overplaying the nonchalant tones in her voice, it might have even been that she would have said something along the lines of 'never mind' if the answer had been that I was no longer around Troy. Trying her luck with someone who possibly would listen, perhaps?

Her remark about me possibly being with Carver seemed to... Change Troy's facial expression quite sharply. Was that... Was that a combination of worry and revulsion clear in his frown?

"Never mind, that's not important" Bonnie soon realised that she had gotten off track, and just like that Troy's inscrutable change of emotions was gone in a flash. "I was thinking that it might be a good idea to let some of her fellow people see her from time to time, let them know that she's alright and vice versa. It should improve morale among everyone"

"I thought that Carver made it very clear that she was not supposed to come into contact with anyone within her group" Troy countered the idea immediately, but like Sarita, Bonnie was more quick witted with her words than the game would have her do.

"You said it yourself; it's not like these people are able to use magic or anything" Bonnie easily cut off that one thread that Troy was sticking to, and this time the emotion was _very_ clear; he was majorly annoyed with having his own words thrown back into his face. "Come on, none of them are armed, and I only have five women with me"

"Your big mouth, eh? I can sympathise" My tone was partly serious, as I truly had been caught in several moments such as the one he was encountering, but naturally it was hard for me to hide the slight teasing tone and smarmy grin that unconsciously appeared across my lips. He seemed to be too tired to give a typical response of 'shut up', so he instead seemed to settle for a long drawn out sigh that showed his aggravation with the situation.

"...Look, let's make a deal" Troy purposefully kept his walkie-talkie off, spelling out quite clear that it was a deal between he and I, rather than with Bonnie. "I'll let you go see your people, if you promise to be on your best behaviour"

"You say that like I haven't been on my best behaviour" I pointed out my still somewhat red cheek, emphasising that it was not my fault that Carver had been in the mood to sow discord that day. Troy sighed softly, but did seem to ever so slightly agree, likely amending his statement within his head to replace the word 'promise' with 'continue'. "And secondly, shouldn't I get a favour for helping you out in the truck on the way here?"

"Nah, I consider that to be already cashed in for the fact that I didn't shoot you in the gut when we first met" Troy clearly didn't want to be on the back foot in terms of our deal of favours that we owed one another, which prompted another one of my snippy comebacks to his hesitation.

"You're such a charmer"

"I try"

With a bit of time to consider it, I supposed that his current deal was the best I was going to get. Not only was it quite clear that I very badly wanted to make sure that everyone within my group was alright, but there was the possibility of getting more insider knowledge from some of the five guards that were watching them. Sympathetic people such as Bonnie and Vince were possible avenues for support, and there was always the possibility for me to exploit the situation with Wyatt and Nick to emotionally manipulate the former to be nicer to us. Russel was likely going to be a problem and Shel was an anomaly, but either way... This was far better than dawdling around the hardware store with Troy the entire time and getting nothing done under his watchful eye.

"Alright, I'd really like that" I accepted his offer, smiling gratefully at him for even extending it to me in the first place. There was another one of his probing looks, as though he expected there to be a hidden malice or back handed compliment somewhere in my sentence, but he naturally found neither. With a slightly confused look, he nodded his head as if to finalise the deal in some manner.

Without words (likely because he didn't want someone important to even realise what he was doing), he sharply cut across the hardware store to one of the smaller rooms that used to store goods when the dead didn't walk. He naturally let me go in before him, even being polite enough to push open the door for me as I moved past him, and at first I was a bit taken aback by the synthetically made light that were found in the lightbulbs.

It had been so long since we truly had used lights outside of candles (there were some at the ski lodge, but they were not so stark white as these ones were), so it distracted me a great deal. It was like stepping back in time for a second, back to when I was nothing more than a girl living at home with her parents, with the bright white light streaming through our little kitchen window. I could have almost closed my eyes and imagined the sounds I would have heard first thing in the morning... My father greeting me from behind his newspaper, and my mother stirring baked beans on the stove.

What my memories could not do, was have the feeling of a small child come barrelling into my chest, which startled me out of my little trip down memory lane. Clementine came into view the moment I actually started to take in my actual surroundings, with one of my hands automatically coming up to softly pet the top of her old worn cap. Trailing only a little bit behind her were Carley, Lilly, Sarita and Katjaa, who all seemed to wear their own special kind of heart melting smiles at the sight of me, making it feel all the more worthwhile to see them personally.

"Wait, you're her mother?" Bonnie asked me in surprise, no doubt because Clementine had called me as such while I was away with the fairies. Just like the time that she, myself and Troy had been in the truck, there naturally was a sceptic out of the two people once again there, with the exception being that his current scepticism was completely founded.

"Obviously not, they don't look anything alike" Troy pointed out the difference between us, as even if we were discounting the different skin colour between us (I did inherit my mother's pale skin after all), our facial features and eye/hair colour were like night and day.

"Prim adopted her around two years ago" Carley spoke fondly of that time, as of course it had been around that motel on the outskirts of Macon. While our memories likely were clouded by a bit of rose tinted goggles from nostalgia, there were a bunch of good memories that I could pick out from that time... Such as her and I getting together. As Clementine eventually peeled herself free from me, Carley took her place, the two of us sharing an intimate hug under the veil of 'just being good gal pals'.

"Primrose" Troy yet again came along to correct the use of name change, showing that at least one of the two guards was listening intently to our conversation. Carley didn't even seem to understand what was wrong at first, looking at him with a curious look in her eyes. "The nickname 'Prim' is for lovers, right?"

"...Oh, of course" By that point it was far too late for Carley to claim anything else than ignorance, her soft tone sounding like she was trying to pass it off as a slip of the tongue rather than anything else. Troy did seem suspicious for a brief second, his poring gaze going over her to see if he could uncover why she had used such a nickname... But just like Bonnie, it seemed that the answer of 'poly' seemed to be far enough away that no particular answer came to him.

"But anyway, why are they in here of all places?" Troy asked Bonnie, using his one spare arm that wasn't stabilising his assault rifle to show that by 'here' he was referring to the room we were standing in. It was the armoury, with several long rows of containers of bullets waiting to be organised into their proper ammunition clips. There didn't seem to be any weapons hanging on the wall racks (it seemed as if they were not _that_ stupid), but somehow it seemed to be a very... Delicate task to just leave to some of your newly acquired prisoners. "Seriously?! Letting them sort bullets?!"

"We needed to sort the bullets, and I couldn't just shove off these five to someone else simply because we're afraid of letting them near anything" Bonnie seemed to think that Troy was being a bit outlandish with his expectations, and it seemed to be a similar sentiment echoed by the women who had been dragged along. Carley quickly gave room for Lilly to hug me (the latter didn't kiss me, as she knew that being caught doing so could not be shrugged off as easily as a nickname could), taking the opportunity of the two guards arguing to still communicate that tiny bit of love between us. "If we were to be that careful, then that means you wouldn't let any of Shel's people touch the shears in the greenhouse"

"I _would_ actually have a problem with that!" Troy looked about ready to burst with all of the information of lax security around their own place, despite the fact he was also kind of guilty in the fact that he didn't remove my cargo tool belt the day prior. Thankfully their argument seemed short lived, as his radio once again seemed to spring to life to ask him for something. Apparently deeming Bonnie as good enough to look after me for a minute or two while he handled this new task shuffled onto his massive pile, he picked it up with a dismissive snort, before storming out of the armoury while yelling angrily at whoever disturbed him. "WHAT?!"

The door shut itself the moment he was out, it swinging shut at the same time that Sarita and I shared a hug between us. With a sigh, Katjaa turned to me, equally concerned about my mental health as she was about my physical health.

"I hope he hasn't been horrible to you" Katjaa expressed her concern, waiting just a bit for Sarita and I to come apart before she gently inspected my tender cheek.

"His bark is worse than his bite" I assured her that Troy was nowhere near as bad as he appeared (especially in contrast to how the game would have him), but she still tutted a bit due to her disagreement on the matter. There was a chance that I could have made a crack about how Larry was far worse, but that was likely going to end up confusing those who didn't know about him, and it still wouldn't have mattered. Arguably David was also 'not as bad' as Larry, but that didn't mean that I would put up with him either. "How have things been while I have been gone?"

"Bad" Clementine didn't mince her words, which frankly made me proud in various manners. Not only did it mean that I would learn the truth faster, but it also meant that she knew that she never had to lie to me. "On the ride here, everybody was arguing about whose fault it was that we got caught in the first place"

Carley and Lilly seemed to avoid looking me in the eyes when I glanced at them for further confirmation, which told me that they likely had been included in that count of 'everybody'. Sarita naturally gave me a look that said that she was disappointed but she had expected such a result after their last explosion in the lodge, and Katjaa gave her own look that implied she had thought it to be a stupid thing to do in any such situation.

"And then last night, people were arguing more about whether it was better to be... What were the words again?" Clementine turned her head to Katjaa as she tried to remember some complicated word (no doubt used by Carlos, as he did love his broad vocabulary knowledge), and the mother smiled down at her simply because she was happy to be of some use to the girl even as she continued to grow up.

"'Compliant' or 'recalcitrant'" Katjaa happily recited those words, and it did indeed sound like something that Carlos would have said... Just like I could have imagined Kenny angrily telling said person to 'speak English' in response.

"I was surprised with the second bout of fighting, as it was no longer a clear split between the two groups" Sarita did sound a tad bit amused with how some people's tune changed in the following round of fighting, and I could easily sort a number of people in either group without really thinking too long about it. "But I'm hoping that after today they will realise that the fighting isn't going to help matters"

I doubted the fact that they would truly stop fighting with one another so quickly, but I supposed that there was no real harm in hoping like she was doing. But rather than say so, I glanced at Bonnie in the corner of my eye to see what she exactly had to say about all of this, hoping to make her see that holding people hostage was not the way a decent person would treat people. Somewhat predictably, her eyes were turned down, quietly slotting in bullets into the ammo cartridge that she held in her hand... Avoiding the problem.

"Is this normal?" I pointedly asked her, my words surprising her a little bit. Her head shot up, as though she was a little surprised to be talked to directly when we were talking amongst ourselves before. But even though the shift of conversation had been a bit abrupt, the ladies and daughter with me could tell that this was an important one to bring up. "Do you typically grab random people and take them home? Is that how you recruit people?"

"Oh! Oh, no. No it isn't" Bonnie answered negatively to my question, but I admittedly was playing a little dirty. As much as I hated to admit it, I was taking a page out of Carver's book, namely in the fact that no matter how she answered it was going to end up reflecting poorly on her. "This is a special case"

"Ah, how lovely" Lilly wasn't afraid to add her voice to the mix, using that perfect blend of scorn and malice that I honestly thought was terrifying when I heard it come from her character's lips in the fourth season. I blessed my lucky stars (I suppose I should say comet, but oh well) that I wouldn't have to ever deal with that tone coming directly to me, with her no longer ending up as the leader for the Delta... But now that I thought about it, who would take her place as the leader? "So we're 'collateral damage', are we? How wonderful"

"It's... It's not like that" Bonnie fell into the trap of trying to defend what was going on around her, which was often a natural defense mechanism for those who didn't realise how far down they had gone. "Things are bad right now, but they won't always be. We just need to get things under control, and then Carver will be the best person you've ever seen"

In a way, I could somewhat understand her final sentence. Back at the motel, during those three months at the beginning of everything, Lilly and Kenny had both been quite irritable and unfriendly while we were pressed for food. Everyone there knew that the two of them were good people, but strangers coming along no doubt would have thought that they were nothing more than 'asshole one' and 'asshole two'... Hell, Ben and Travis likely could attest to the latter part quite well.

I wasn't the only one remembering that time, as Lilly happened to glance at me right as I did her, with Katjaa, Clementine and Carley giving their own lingering looks in our peripheral visions. But even though I could understand that sentiment... Even though I too would have fought tooth and nail for the people I had mentioned...

"You have to draw a line in the sand somewhere" I bluntly told Bonnie, something that I personally hoped that I would stick to myself even if I had been in her position at that point in time. If Kenny had been in place of Carver when I opened the door at the cabin, it would have been the right thing morally to absolutely call him a monster from the bottom of my heart... Even if the mere thought made my heart ache. "It's fine to believe in someone, but that belief has to have a limit. The more precise question would be, where does your line lie?"

Bonnie didn't open her mouth, instead silently taking in what I had said. She couldn't disagree with what I said, as it didn't even talk about what _I_ thought was a good moral choice; I simply stated something that most people knew, but often forget about. The only thing that most people did after remembering about it was think about where their line stood.

Long before she could find her answer (or the others could strike up a conversation with me in the meantime), the door to the armoury came swinging back open, with Troy waving for me to go with him.

"We probably shouldn't linger here long" Troy simply explained why our visit was cut short, as I could understand that he didn't exactly want to be seen leading me around to my little groups of people. Visiting for less than ten minutes could be waved away by saying that it was simply Troy checking up on how Bonnie and Co. were working, so we had to be careful to not step over too long. With a small wave and a smile to my special women, I willingly went off with him, hoping that my words stuck with Bonnie more than Clementine could do on her own... As I didn't dare want to repeat the incident with Reggie to help her see the truth.

(More memes! This time, with some that talk about my current recovery process with my anxiety, but the majority are admittedly still just about the book. Either way, I hope you enjoy!

https://imgflip.com/i/477kcz

https://imgflip.com/i/477kdp

https://imgflip.com/i/477kee

https://imgflip.com/i/477kev

https://imgflip.com/i/477kfy)


	25. A Green Thumb

After hearing Troy mutter under his breath about how we were going to be heading over to Shel next, we set off in our twosome. There was a small part of my mind that remembered that Shel's team was 'allowed near the shears', so it seemed likely that the five people with her were in charge of the greenhouse like Clementine and Sarah had been in the game. The only problem being, I was not fully aware of how the layout of the hardware store worked even as I was unceremoniously following behind Troy when he searched for the radios (the second season did unfortunately make liberal use of jump-cuts after all). After realising as much himself (he likely could have seen the confusion on my face, as well as the fact I had tried to turn the wrong way three times by then), he deemed it good enough for me to walk side by side by him until we found a flight of stairs reaching up to the roof.

The moment the door to the roof opened, the both of us were greeted by the vague amounts of sunlight trying to filter through the steadily greying clouds above our heads. I found my hand naturally coming up to block the slight chill in the wind from contacting my eyes, inspecting the particularly dark shade of grey that the clouds had become in the meantime; darker than when I had last properly looked at them before crossing the bridge near the Moonstar Lodge.

The difference likely had been caused by my timely intervention in Walter's death, as we naturally would have missed it during the dark shades of night (and, you know, the devious machinations of Carver), but it yet again brought up that feeling of uncertainty in my mind; as I still had no clue what all of it meant or was leading up to.

"God... When are we ever going to get a sunny day again?" I heard Troy sigh wistfully as he came to a halt next to me, clearly looking upon the same vaguely stormy looking sky. It hadn't just been me to notice the difference after all, not with everyone's intelligence ramped up far higher than their typical two-bit variants of themselves. But perhaps even more important than their minds working as normal, their emotions truly were a thing of beauty.

"You miss it?" I couldn't help but ask him as my eyes tilted a little to glance at him as he stood beside me looking off into the horizon. If it weren't for the assault rifle that he still carried around, it might have been quite the nice portrait for a picture or painting down the road.

"I think anyone would" His tone was... Yet again, difficult for me to understand. There naturally was a heavy hint of him speaking matter-of-factly (which was a common staple, I was discovering), yet there was another side to it that didn't quite stick as much. Was it a sense of forlorn, ruefulness or would it have been closer to describe it as pensive?

I tried to find a better answer in his light brown eyes, but the moment my eyes searched there I was only met with the same kind of emotion that he likely could see reflected in my own brown eyes; curiosity. It didn't take either of us long to understand that continuing to stare would end in nothing more than wasted time and a long-standing stalemate, but even as I broke off eye contact there was a lingering sense of disappointment resting in the bottom of my gut. Even weirder than the unsatisfied feeling from the lack of result, was the... Hope, that he was experiencing the same sensation.

"...Never mind, it's not good to dwell on the past" He tried to brush it off as nothing more than viewing the past with rose-tinted glasses, even lifting his shoulders enough to give the physical impression that it was not weighing heavy on him. While the notion of trying to forget the past didn't particularly speak to me, I could understand the fact that sometimes we truly had to accept that the grass was not always greener on the other side. "Come on, I don't want to stand here all day"

"This may sound incredibly stupid, but I had always figured you for a slacker in the... The knowledge I have" While somewhat stumbling over my words when the words 'the game' were about to tumble off my tongue, I didn't find it nearly as daunting to talk with him about that knowledge as I had initially thought it would have been. To my surprise, his slight hum to my remark didn't immediately come across as dismissive, instead leaning towards an 'Oh?'. "You were a real piece of work, so it just seemed natural to assume that you didn't give half a rats arse about this place either. Your list of wrongdoings included being elated to hit people, asking young girls whether 'everything came out alright' when they went to the bathroom, things like that"

"Blech" Was his one word response to that insinuation of him, which in turn did earn him a small chuckle in response from me, as well as my typical accompaniment of words.

"You said it" I laughed, finding yet again that our interactions were tiptoeing that much closer towards something far more respectable than anything I had ever expected the two of us to reach. "I don't know. I guess what I'm trying to say is; You're alright Troy"

That unsatisfied part of my gut reared its head for the second time when his eyes glanced at me out of the corner of his eye with that look of suspicion... And yet, somehow this time that amount of combating emotion was a thinly veiled version of itself; that sense of distrust melting away into another one of his enigmatic glances. No matter what I could decipher from his eyes or somewhat permanent 'resting bitch face' that he seemed to have, at the very least I could trust in one other form of communication that humans had; verbal words.

"...You're alright too" He finally admitted it, and finally that feeling seemed to leave my body at the both of us finally being truthful around one another. Even if we weren't in the best of positions - and I could still spot his eyes occasionally glancing in my direction, as though to make sure that I was still there - there already was a marketed improvement in the form of how he handled his weapon; his fingers holding it in a far looser grip and his right hand no longer being so closely placed to the trigger.

Within moments of the both of us crossing that initial threshold with each other, we had already reached the greenhouse waiting for us in the middle of the roof. Any semblance of calm that he had managed to adopt with me went flying out of the window by the time we walked in, as he could spy every single of the five prisoners there was handling a sharp tool in order to maintain the plants there. Matthew and Walter (who had mercifully been allowed to remain with each other in one group, perhaps because they didn't cause much trouble?) were spending time with Sarah on the already formed berry trees, with the teacher quite happy to give pointers like his profession had never left and his partner occasionally sprinkling in small bits of information that Walter missed. On the other half of the room, were Reggie and Doug, with the former trying unsuccessfully to get the tech wiz to be interested in planting a bunch of seeds into a planter box.

"For the absolute love of Aphrodite’s left nut" Troy sighed heavily, bringing up one of his hands off his assault rifle to pinch the bridge of his nose in irritation, which likely wasn't helped by me giggling immaturely next to him for his inventive use of language. To my delight, he seemed closer to an annoyed boss (i.e. being mad at the people who he worked with rather than the people who ended up accidentally doing things wrong), deeming me mature enough to leave alone while he stormed across the greenhouse to Shel at the other end. "Stay here, don't get into trouble"

"Take pictures!" I cheekily left him with that message, enjoying myself far too much when I heard him snort softly to himself as he stomped over to the women in charge of the botany group. He likely was trying to give the impression that his laughter was dismissive in nature, but I was starting to understand him far better than he thought he was letting on. But that bit of merriment from him was not the only positive side effect from my remark, as my loud cheery voice carried enough to let the five other people gathered there that I had arrived for a short stop.

"Auntie Prim!" Sarah happily called out for me once she found me - even taking a note from Duck's page in reference to her new nickname for - coming close enough to give me a gentle hug. Elated at the fact that she seemed to be handling herself just fine even without her father being there, I happily curled my own arms around her, humming softly to myself at the mere fact that I was able to be there with her. "Are you okay? Carver was pretty mean to you this morning"

"Eh, I think he just was looking for an excuse to be rude" I assured her of that, as I didn't want to build up any idea in her mind that she had caused him to hit me (well, technically he got someone else to do it, but it was still reinforced in my mind that Carver was the cause behind it). Sarah soon let go of me, still holding that slight hint of hope in her eyes at this point, which was a much better improvement for her. "I'm surprised you're not with your dad right now"

"We didn't really have much of a choice in the matter, most of those five were going around and picking willy-nilly out of everyone gathered there. By the time Sarah here realised that her dad was with someone else, they had left for their task" Walter quite happily come over to explain why they had the strange splitting up of that family, the man himself looking quite relieved that Shel had accidentally grouped he and his partner into one group. "But speaking of the people running these groups, what's going on with the guy who's making you follow him around?"

"Troy? I wouldn't worry about him; I'll have him wrapped around my finger in a day, tops" I teased the lot of them, only realising a second later that it was likely to be a joke that worked on Doug and nobody else out of the five of them. It would seem that the stories of my exploits had at least been told in plenty supply to Matthew and Walter respectively, as the both of them laughed along with Doug based on what they had heard of me.

"Considering your history and Sarita's particular soft spot for you, I don't doubt it" Matthew agreed with his own pleasant chuckle, before simmering down ever so slightly when Reggie looked at us confused. "Ah, have you met Reggie?"

"Not physically" My answer was enigmatic at best and downright befuddling at worst, as Reggie warily shook my hand when I offered it to him. It seemed that my reputation for seeing into the future hadn't just circulated around the guards watching over us all, his disbelieving look also giving the impression that he and the others in the yard had been told about me. "Did Carver talk about my abilities, or did my group talk about them?"

"Carver had talked about it last night, but I honestly thought he had just hit his head" Reggie was leaning towards the side of not believing me, which was to be expected. "But to listen to your people muttering about it and fighting with each other over it, it was... Insane, like listening to a bunch of cultists"

 _That's pretty ironic, considering the fact you sincerely believe that Carver will let you out of the yard;_ that quite poisonous thought bubbled up within my mind, but I knew that it wouldn't win me any friends, so I kept it to myself. I supposed it was a normal reaction - Just like Alvin's was as well - I just happened to have been quite lucky with my first season group not finding out until they were invested in me, and the majority of the second season group had the bonus of it being confirmed in several different cases (one of which was by a psychopath, but confirmed nonetheless).

"Honestly Prim, can you believe it?" Doug still inadvertently used my nickname - as of course habits did die hard - but considering we were talking amongst our six I determined it to be fine. Besides, going out of my way to correct him would make it stand out far more than ignoring it would do in the situation. "I'm the best person here with technology, and they stick me with the dirt!"

"Darn, a real shame that" I joked in kind with him, as I truly missed his and Glenn's kind of humour while they had been missing from my life. And if the wide grin on his face was anything to go by, then he had missed my typical way of taking the joke and amping it up just a tad bit before returning it to him just as much as I had missed him. "Next time we get kidnapped by a bunch of people, I'll make sure to ensure that they take your accomplishments seriously"

Even as Doug enjoyed my return remark by chuckling heartily at it - and I could still make out Troy asking Shel if she was right in the head for allowing four adults to handle sharp tools without constant supervision - there was another sound hanging around in the background that drew my attention. The quietest noises always did, as like with the bells attached to walkers outside of the lodge, it typically meant that nobody else was paying attention to it.

Because the roof was over a largely hollow building, it made the footsteps of people walking over it slightly reverberate no matter how loud or soft their typical gait made them. With my mind filtering out Doug and Troy more substantially, I could distinctly pinpoint one set of footsteps making their way over to the greenhouse. And while they couldn't have seen me from the outside (nor I them from the inside of the smaller glass building), the strong feeling of deja vu coming over me made me immediately leap to the worst possible conclusion.

"Pretend I wasn't talking to you" I blurted that sentence out hurriedly, cutting off anyone who happened to be talking at the time, before I shifted myself across the room towards Troy at the other end. Both guards naturally noticed me approaching them, with Troy naturally having a look on his face that told me that he was confused on why I was in such a hurry to stand beside him, but the answer for why I was doing so came only a couple of seconds after I sidled up to him.

The door to the greenhouse ended up slamming open; Carver's face appearing a moment after the swinging door opened enough to let him walk right on in. His eyes seemed to be on autopilot, sweeping broadly over the work that both groups had done near the entrance, completely ignoring the people there as though they were insignificant enough to not be considered. Sarah, Walter and Matthew had done an astounding job in tending to the little trees they had been given, with bright green branches sprouting out of the sides to show how well they were growing. On the other side, despite Doug's resistant attitude, they had gotten a sizeable amount of planters filled with new seeds, all around getting the job done even if it was done so reluctantly.

It was only when he raised his eyes to tell Shel 'well done' or perhaps to inform her that it was satisfactory enough, did he realise the two additions to the six he was expecting to see. With a clear squint and disgruntled frown on his face, he was telling his right hand man to explain himself without saying so aloud.

"Hey Bill, I came here to talk to Shel about how her team had handled the bells with walkers at the lodge" Despite initial impressions of Troy being that he hated his co-workers, he seemed to come up with a different reason as to why we were there, painting Shel in a far better light than if he were to admit the truth of why we were there in the first place. I did my best to keep my stony face up even when Carver turned his eyes over to me - trying to spot if he could see a hint of discomfort or anything else that would imply that we were lying to him - and before long he seemingly settled on the fact that he couldn't really find anything there. "You told me not to let Primrose out of my sight, so I thought it better to keep her with me rather than tell her to wait at her bed"

That was likely true; most people would admit that letting me stay on my own at my allocated resting spot would cause more problems for them than it was to let me see my group from a distance. In fact, I could tell that was likely what Troy was aiming for; focusing entirely on a set of two choices (having me around versus not having me around) which distracted people from the reason why the two of us were there in the first place.

There was that small bit of a game played between the two men, with the both of them seemingly having a game of chicken in terms of glaring at one another. Carver likely could have just pulled his trump card of not believing anything in regards to me, but...

"Bill, you there?" The walkie-talkie on his belt chimed in, with a voice sounding quite close to Tavia's asking for him. With a slight huff being expelled through his nose, Carver decided that it would take far too much out of his day to try to fault everything that Troy and I were doing, turning away right as he picked up the device.

"If this is about that horde again, I'm telling you that it's a couple of days away" Carver brought up the discussion of the horde lingering in the distance, which naturally perked my ears up ever so slightly. While it was the best way (quite literally the only way) in the game to get out, I knew that trying to tiptoe through the horde with a bunch of inexperienced people would only lead to several deaths. I thanked whatever being that was looking out for me, as the horde being a number of days away meant that I still had some time to get a better plan sorted out. "The small gathering of them near the front barricade won't be a problem as long as you keep a proper eye on things"

With his voice slowly receding, I felt that much safer. Not only was Reggie in no danger of being flung off a building due to a temper flare, it seemed to me that Troy had gotten out of trouble just as easily had he had the first time around in the truck... But even so, why was it that I felt like the latter was more important to me?

"Christ" Shel sighed softly, even running a hand through her short hair once she was certain that Carver was no longer near enough to the greenhouse to hear us talking. Her words certainly seemed to be exactly what we collectively were thinking, so much so that I was grateful that I didn't have to lecture them about how this was not how typical leaders treated their groups. "How many times do we have to walk around on eggshells when he's in one of his 'moods'?"

Troy didn't answer her question, knowing full well that he didn't have a proper answer to it. Even if someone could predict when he was in a mood (impossible to do so without mind reading abilities or being messed in the head yourself), the mere presence of such a concept bordered on living with your abusive parents than surviving with a bunch of savvy people in the new world.

"...Should we get going before he returns?" I gently posed the question to my specific guard, but he slowly shook his head due to some reasoning that I hadn't even considered before.

"No, if we leave straight away then that'll make him think we were just coming up with an excuse" Troy seemed a little... Too well versed in how to handle ideas such as this one, painting the picture that this wasn't his first time trying to sneak around Carver. "I'll keep a bit of an eye by the door to see whether he's lingering outside, and then I'll give a signal when it's fine to go"

As Troy tiptoed back over towards the door - and the other five started to return to their work lest they get another unexpected visit - I was left with Shel for a brief moment of time. She was quieter than I expected, her weapon tucked away onto her back in an obvious gesture that she didn't think we were all dangerous enough to warrant it being held. In fact, her hands were occupied by holding a small long flowering stem, one with brilliant flowers that were mainly white but had a blue spike and wonderful tinges of blue on the outside of their petals.

"Vanda corulea" I vaguely remembered my mother talking about it in the past, as she truly did love her flowers. Shel seemed a little startled by me suddenly speaking to her, turning her head ever so slightly as though to ask me what I was referring to; which I obliged by gently pointing at the flowers adorning her hand. "The Blue Orchid, right?"

"Oh!" She soon realised, lifting up the flower stem carefully so that she didn't damage any of the special petals. It seemed that my estimation of her being a flower enthusiast like my mother were a bit off however. "I, um... I didn't actually know the name for this one. We had a seed for it, so I snuck it into one of the far back pots"

"It's a good one for sure" I found myself delving right back to the information that my mother had given about it, eager to talk to some of these people on a level that wasn't simply trying to avoid them. At the very least, I wanted her to be aware that I was a real person, not some mystical god like being (or whatever Carver had exactly described me as). "The juice from the flowers are apparently used for a bunch of different remedies"

"I must admit, I was only trying to get a flower that also happened to be blue" Shel admitted with a small laugh, it being tinged with a hint of self-deprecation for the lack of knowledge that she had on the subject. Perhaps it had been because she had always refused to do 'girly' things in the past, or something else in her memories. Either way, I decided to not inform her that there was a bluer flower in the orchid family, leaving her with the idea that she had found the best one. "It... It was supposed to be a gift for someone"

With that last remark, her eyes seemed to lift ever so slightly to look a little disappointed in the five people that she had managed to pick. I got the impression that it was less about the work they were necessarily doing in the greenhouse and more along the lines that they were the wrong people.

"You know, Troy and I likely will be passing by the other groups sometime today. I could always drop it off with them if you would like" I made a bit of a leap of logic right there, gently holding out my hand to take the flower from her. While giving another look of surprise - likely wondering why I would be willing to do such a thing for her - she did seem to decide that I was her best bet to give the flowers to her special someone, carefully handing the long stem over. "So, I doubt they are in my group that arrived yesterday, but I still would like some information on who it is so that I don't accidentally give it to the wrong person"

"I... I don't know necessarily if you... _Know_ who they are just by name alone, but it's the guy called Mike" Now that name coming from Shel's lips did come as a bit of surprise, but that quickly ended up melting away when I reminded myself that the mere fact that Shel was in love with someone was already different from the game as it was. "I think he ended up in Russel's group, if you remember him"

While I was tempted to jokingly answer _'Oh right, asswipe!',_ I simply settled for smiling and nodding my head to tell her that I recognised both names. Something about my smile and complete eagerness to do that task for her seemed to be the straw that broke the camel’s back for her, reminding her of just how messed up our current power dynamic truly was.

"...God, what was Carver thinking? It's one thing to be mad at people who shot one of our own, but kidnapping a whole group of random people?!" Shel questioned exactly what kind of logic was running through their leaders head, and it was admittedly very cathartic to finally hear one of them admit something like that aloud. "And to treat our old comrades as scum of the earth because they didn't want to remain here, it's!-It's!..."

The right kind of description for his heinous decisions apparently couldn't be found, her rubbing her head in her hands in utter exasperation for things even reaching that point. The reason may have been because any kind of word had already been used by her long ago; back when she and Becca still were with Roman in a similar situation as they were now. When I glanced at the five people still working on their little greenhouse projects, I could see that Doug was the only one paying attention, his eyes occasionally flitting to meet mine. While Matthew, Walter, Sarah and Reggie were all occupied with their own problems, I could likely rely on Doug to still end up providing a better alternative to Shel long after I had to leave. And so, I decided to plant that seed of doubt in Shel's mind.

"It certainly makes one think of very dictator like situations" I suggested the idea to her, while trying to act like it had been a completely random thought rather than a purposeful one. It didn't take long for her hands to slowly wander down from her face, slowly flitting through various emotions. First confusion, then a short flitter of denial, and finally... A mixture of horror and recognition. "I'll make sure to drop off the orchid to Mike"

Using that opportunity to slip away and leave her with those thoughts, I carefully tucked the orchid stem into the back of my pants, before tucking the delicate flowers underneath my top to conceal them. While it initially tickled me with the delicate petals dancing across my skin, I quickly seemed to get used to it, and could only hope that it didn't get squashed before I could give it to Mike.

"Are we ready?" I asked Troy, who still stood close to the door, opening it ever so slightly so that he could peek out. It seemed to be that my talk with Shel was long enough to make him less paranoid about leaving, so he opened the door for me to enter out first as was customary by that point. After giving the five people in the greenhouse a quick wave (only Doug, Sarah and Matthew were paying attention enough to give me one back), I stepped out... And was greeted by the sky wobbling as though it waited exactly until I was there to witness it.

"What in the absolute-

"Shhh!" I hurriedly told Troy to quiet down as he stepped outside, as I didn't want to run the risk that he would draw a crowd if I let him yell some obscenity about what he was seeing. He did do as I asked, clearly too distracted with what was happening in front of his eyes to combat my sharp tone. The both of us watched - he in utter shock, and myself in a sense of relief and mild confusion - as the sky danced for us before settling like a crystal clear lake, with it being just a tad greyer yet again. It was looking closer and closer to a stormy blanketed sky with each passing person saved, but it was not quite yet to a point where I could claim that the sky was black just yet.

"Wha... What was that?" After finding his courage, his bewildered expression turned to look at mine, finding that my face was perfectly composed. My nonchalant reaction seemed to unsettle him even further, him tucking away his weapon for a split second to grab me by the shoulders and shake me softly as though he was trying to treat me in outdated methods for shock. "What _was_ that?!"

"Proof" I bluntly answered his question, as I knew by that point that he was well intelligent enough to understand what it meant. But even as I could see (and practically hear, considering how baffling such a concept would be for most people) that he was putting those pieces together, I didn't want to leave him an out. There was no way I was going to accept him coming up with some nonsensical answer for everything, so I was heaping on everything now that he was paying attention. "Have you never wondered why the sky has been blanketed in clouds for over two years? Or why if I was nutcase, why I had a group of over twenty people following me? Why Carver was so obsessed in doing things 'differently' when you guys captured us?"

Even though the last fact had been a bit of a guess, it certainly seemed to be true from the shocked look upon his face. Even if - If, I say! - he could ignore everything I just told him, the literal sky bending in front of him couldn't be denied. And as much as I had always said that the most realistic reactions to the truth were akin to Alvin or Reggie, there was perhaps an even better example was right in front of my face, right as Troy said...

"...And here I thought walking dead people was the weirdest thing"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Memes!
> 
> https://imgflip.com/i/48bk0p  
> https://imgflip.com/i/48bk16  
> https://imgflip.com/i/48bk1s  
> https://imgflip.com/i/48bk23  
> https://imgflip.com/i/48bk2k  
> https://imgflip.com/i/48bk3f)


	26. Putting Your Back Into It

Troy likely had several questions in regards to the things I knew now. What did the sky wobbling exactly mean? Was me being in their hardware store an omen of disaster, or was I going to be friendly towards them? Just how far did my knowledge extend? If I did truly have the ability of seeing into the future, then was his joke of me having magic at my disposal truly as outlandish as he first had implied?

All of them... Seemingly had to wait.

"Troy, can you come over here please?" Vince called out from on top of the roof, his group of people being stationed only a bit further away from the greenhouse. Rebecca and Christa were standing off to the side of some kind of lift pulley system nearby, with little Rose clutching onto her mother’s trouser leg; watching on with great interest in what the final two workers were doing. Because the former three were not really available to do menial work, it seemed to be left over to Jane (one who was certainly familiar in that position) and... An unbelievably fuming Glenn.

Troy's eyes seemed to stare at Vince and the others with him for a long time, before snapping back over to mine with the deeply confused look akin to 'how in the seven hells did they not see that?'. I supposed it was quite easy to do; the sky didn't exactly make much of a sound as it did so, so the majority of people would typically miss it if they weren't glancing directly up as it happened. All I could do was give him a sympathetic glance, as now he understood that feeling of knowing something that most others would label you as insane over.

"Troy!"

"I heard you the first time!" It seemed that his irritation with being called multiple times overrode his initial confusion on the new development, but the look in his eyes when he glanced at me seemed to imply that he was going to ask me more in depth about it later. Just like I had been doing for a long time before that, I followed right after him as he moved over towards the next group of six. Mike wasn't with them, as Russel wasn't their leader, so sadly the Orchid would have to remain for a while longer.

Our combined footsteps seemed to affirm for the five workers that we were truly making our way over to them, with almost each one glancing over to us. Jane remained as quiet as she had been that morning, watching the both of us with a keen interest. Glenn seemed endlessly relieved to see me - perhaps even hoping that I would take him away from his older brother somehow - and Christa gave me a familiar smile once she saw me approaching. Rebecca, well, she looked quite worried for some particular reason, but that all paled in comparison to...

"Prim!" Rose seemed to truly attach the name to my face by that point, releasing her mother's pant leg to run (in that toddler style that I hadn't seen ever since I had arrived to that new world) and subsequently cling to my leg instead. I laughed at her excitement, which furthermore caused her to giggle in response, showing her brilliant smile at me. It also didn't help that her little black pigtails seemed to bounce as she ran, further showing her sheer childish innocence; something which Omid and Christa had done an admirable job with.

When I glanced over at Troy to effectively ask for permission to spend some time with the people there, I was happier than ever to see him give a nonchalant hand waving gesture signifying that it was perfectly fine. He did turn his head for a moment to see whether he could spy Carver on the roof, which he couldn't.

"Alright everyone, we can take a break right about now" Vince called that out to the people working - which honestly were only Glenn and Jane - before turning to talk with the guard that he had called for. The two people who had been heaving on the rope to lift the bags gratefully dropped down the most recent load onto the roof, stretching their sore muscles by that point. "Troy, I really need you to arrange for some swapping to happen; Carver's going to be livid if he comes around and we've only lifted up five bags of soil"

"Why did you take Rebecca _and_ the lady with the child at the same time?" Troy asked him incredulously, as he clearly thought that it was particularly silly to take a bunch of people who didn't look like they could have done physical work, to then only complain about how they couldn't really help out.

"I didn't have much chance to pick out good people! I was... Never mind. By the time I managed to get one person, everyone else had left in their groups" As much as it wouldn't help in the long run, I couldn't help but pick out what the two of them were talking about as they bickered with each other. It sounded quite a bit like Vince had accidentally wasted a bunch of his time chasing one particular group member around, and I had a sneaking suspicion that I knew who that member had been... And from their grumpy disposition, it seemed likely that he had been doing his best to avoid ending up in that group, to no avail. "It didn't help that Nick had sneakily swapped with Rebecca into another group, as he would have been perfect for this job"

...Yet again, my mind seemed to have formed its own ideas on who Nick would have tried to go with. Considering whom I had seen in the three groups so far, I could only hope that I wouldn't have to hurry along to prevent another murder in one day.

"You really need to learn when to not eavesdrop Primrose" Christa knew me well enough to recognise when I was not fully there (eavesdropping, thinking to myself, etc.), and she could also tell that I was likely trying to solve our current situation. I pretended to play dumb as I picked up Rose from my pant leg, as I didn't want to give Vince or Troy the impression that I was working against them, but Christa could see past the facade I put up immediately. "Honestly, you don't need to always be the person solving the problem"

"Someone should be" I tried to argue semantics with her over it, as while I could understand not poking the bear (i.e. not provoking Carver when one could help it), I wasn't the kind of person who would just roll over at the first sign of problems. Rose seemed to understand emotions better than words, as she soon glanced between her mother and I with a befuddled look upon her face, not understanding what was causing the tension in the air.

"I know, I'm not going to just let these guys walk all over us either. But I need you to trust us to fix problems as well" Christa reassured me that she wasn't suggesting that I give up completely, but that she simply wanted me to be safe and not risk my life and limb (as was my typical behaviour). She came closer until she could comfortably rest her hands on my shoulders, her gentle touch reminding me just how much she cared about me... Even if that love wasn't romantic in the slightest. "We just got you back, remember? I know you're just as worried about us getting hurt, but we're a tough group. Believe in us, alright?"

"She's right you know; I know Nick, Luke, Sarah and Carlos would fight tooth and nail for you. Alvin would too, as much as he would not admit it out loud sometimes" Rebecca joined in with the reminder, as she could recognise several bits of my personality despite knowing me for a shorter amount of time than Christa. Contrasting to what Clementine had said about the two groups fighting with each other, it seemed to be that Christa and Rebecca had become as thick as thieves; with Christa smiling just as fondly at the expecting mother as she would to me. "As long as you manage to keep away from Carver, we'll sort something out"

"Last I heard, the two groups were bickering constantly" I felt I had to remind them, as the issues between the differing people seemed to be far more than could be casually ignored the following day. The enemy of my enemy is my friend was indeed a saying, but that saying had never encountered this particular situation.

"Let us handle that" Yet again, Christa's words seemed to be reflecting the same meaning in them; to trust them to do more than the game would let them do. Several jokes came up about the second season leaving all the important decisions and tasks to the child of the group (the player, but still), however it was becoming quite clear that this new world - and new people - were absolutely not going to repeat that sentiment. Even more so, the conspiring wink that Christa gave me told me that they were already working on something that I didn't even know about yet. "We'll get everyone out of here - you included - and you shouldn't have to lift a finger to do so. Isn't that right darling?"

"Yeah!" Rose agreed with her mother, even though I had the heavy suspicion that the little girl didn't know exactly what we were talking about. But even if that was the case, her little arms raising to the sky in a show of unbridled excitement were enough to show that she would bring us joy regardless. "Dah!"

I couldn't tell what 'dah' was supposed to be exactly, but I soon heard the noise of footsteps behind me. When I tilted my head ever so slightly over my shoulder, I could spy that Troy and Vince were no longer talking to one another, the latter heading over towards his brother a little bit away from me and the three other girls. Jane had taken the moment of silence to sneak over to Troy, taking up his attention for the time being, but my attention was solely focused on Glenn trying - and failing - to hide at the corner of the roof.

"'Dah' is generally what Rose says when she spots danger" Christa explained her daughter's sudden babble, noticing the fact that I had easily gotten distracted with Vince and Glenn. As much as it was silly to go charging off right after her well-meaning lecture about leaving things to them, I turned my dark brown eyes to her to ask for permission to give the younger brother a helping hand. Without words, Christa gently took back her daughter (who seemed confused by the sudden switching of hands, but not much else), gesturing with her head off to let me go.

The moment I was allowed, I practically was running over to Glenn to beat his older brother there. Even though Vince had the head-start over me, Glenn soon noticed that I was approaching him, instead turning to move closer to me instead. It was only when Glenn managed to lay his hands on my shoulder (initially he seemed to be aiming for the small of my back, but he seemed to divert at the last moment) that the other man even seemed to notice my presence.

"Primrose" Vince spoke in a surprised tone once he noticed me, his eyes flitting over to Troy to see whether he was going to call me back for some particular reason. He didn't; he was still talking to Jane, so that left Vince on his own with the realisation that I likely wasn't going to leave on my own. "Can I have a moment alone with Glenn?"

"You can say it with her present" Glenn rejected the notion of me leaving right after I had just arrived, his hand on my shoulder conveying by touch that he _really_ did not want me to leave him. Whatever history they had together, it was not comfortable at all; the disgruntled look in Glenn's eyes only seemed to diminish when he glanced at me, it melting away to a sense of longing.

Yet again, there was that hint of suspicion in another guards eyes. Our little glances - the tiny touches - those communicated a kind of connection that friends generally did not have with one another. If it hadn't been for the fact that Carver was waving Carlos' feelings around that morning, I think their confusion would likely have not been so great in regards to how it worked in our group.

"Glenn, about Caleb..." Vince seemed to start, but faltered when he realised that the name made his brother tense up. The name... Wasn't particularly noteworthy to me, not even by coincidence. Even so, if it was something that linked the two of them, then I had a slight guess as to who this person was in reference to the brothers. "Do you... Do you know who we're talking about?"

"I think so" The hesitation in his voice was clear, but that wasn't enough to stop me from talking about my knowledge. "Before the dead started to walk, you were going to prison for murdering someone. What you exactly were murdering him for was not exactly known, but you could mention to others on the prison ride there that you did it to protect your brother"

The uncomfortable spine chilling fear seemed to show itself clearly in Vince's eyes, representing that basic thought of 'how on earth do you know all of that' down to a single facial expression. In contrast, the fire had begun to burn in his brother's eyes yet again, spelling out that the memory was not nearly as one sided as Vince (or the player) had seen it.

"Protect me, what a joke" Glenn hissed underneath his breath, his eyes turning to mine with an apologetic look to them before. "Prim, I'm sorry I didn't tell you before but... Well, it never seemed like it was ever going to important in contrast to surviving. I used to... Mix with the wrong crowd, stealing things to get by. Caleb was one of the people in my group, but despite his flaws he was my best friend. He didn't deserve to die for making a mistake"

"He's the one who got you into debt several times! You were always trying to fix his debt to loan sharks, and he kept taking advantage of you because of it!" Unlike the one-sided spat between Nick and Wyatt, Vince's tone didn't sound apologetic in the slightest. If anything, his tone - and words - seemed to imply that he thought that he was completely in the right to take matters into his own hands. That sense of righteousness only seemed to blow up in his face in the form of Glenn snapping back at him.

"So he deserved to get shot in the head?! What kind of messed up-

"Glenn, _stop"_ I expressly put emphasis on my command for him to stop arguing, as I could only see their current discussion ending in disaster. While I had played Vince for a short increment of time in the DLC, it didn't quite give a complete view of what kind of person Caleb had been, so I couldn't really say whether one of them was more right than the other. It effectively left me in a sense of 'he said versus he said', and the two of them arguing over it truly felt like they would be banging their heads against a brick wall. Thankfully, after a calming breath in, Glenn listened to me and quit while he was ahead.

"That's _enough_!" Troy soon came over to sort out the problem along with me, him being able to tell that something was likely going to explode between the brothers before long, stomping over while angrily tapping his fingers on his deadly gun - as though to warn both brothers that he was not afraid to use it if he had to. Even though neither of them were brawling just yet, we didn't want to let it get that far. "Vince, is this going to be a regular problem of yours?"

Vince didn't answer him at first; instead glaring at Glenn as I tried to rub the latter's hand on my shoulder in support. Even though I didn't know if he was particularly enamoured with me in the slightest, I gave him a pleading look, hoping that he would go easy on his younger brother despite the circumstances. To my endless relief, I did seem to catch his eye... And the anger seemed to slowly dissipate, reminding him that this was an old wound that no longer was something just stuck between the two of them.

"...No" Vince quietly answered Vince after a while, which only seemed to get him a disbelieving grunt from the other guard. But despite that noise, Troy seemed to accept that it probably was the best he was going to get between the two. As much as it felt like I hadn't managed to help either brother, I now knew a bit more of their dynamic with one another, and could start to think about what I exactly was going to do for them both. "This is a one-time thing, I promise"

"It better be; I have enough on my plate as it is" Troy sighed deeply, as I truly was starting to get an impression of just how much was piled onto him even without the worry of Carver having some kind of histrionic meltdown. As his hawk-like eyes seemed to sweep over the roof once more in a search for their leader yet again, it seemed that our short excursion was at an end. "Primrose, let's go"

I gave Glenn a tiny touch with my hand, communicating equally that I had to go and that I cared about him in equal measures. While his look seemed to be begging me not to leave yet again, I had to slowly feel his hand slide off my shoulder as I left him. With a small smile and a wave goodbye to Christa, Rebecca and Rose (who happily seemed to return my wave), Troy and I were about to leave off to the next location... When Jane stepped in Troy's way.

"Ten seconds, that's all I need" Jane wasn't kidding around, speaking directly to Troy with such an authoritative tone that compelled him to listen to her. Far from her first words in the game, she had quite the first impression this time around, painting herself less as a weird loner and more of a person who wasn't afraid to throw around her weight if needed to.

Troy tilted his head to spot whether Vince had noticed the two of them, which he most certainly had. As such, it seemed to be that their special... "deal" that the game implied had to be brushed off for the time being lest some of the others catch on to what was going on between them.

"We already talked" Troy whispered that in slight irritation, obviously wondering what she was doing in standing out after they had taken special care to speak in private before. But it seemed that it wasn't _him_ that she was asking for the short amount of time with.

"Don't flatter yourself" She pretended to have nothing going on with the guard - especially considering the fact that everyone was watching by then - before sashaying around Troy with an air of superiority floating off her. It was... Kind of attractive, how confident in herself she was in that moment, reminding me well and truly that I did have an attraction to females.

It seemed to be that my distracting thoughts were _extremely_ well timed, as she took everyone's momentary loose attention span to lean in close - curling the fingers on her left hand right into the hair at the back of my head - and planted her lips directly against mine. It threw me for such a loop (Troy too, if the wide open eyes he was directing at the back of her head were anything to go by) that I wasn't even doing much in response for the first couple of seconds, and I could feel her right hand start to slide up underneath my shirt.

"Wha-HEY! Cut that out!!" Troy eventually seemed to find his brain after a couple of seconds, finding that Jane was getting a little too handsy with me by that point. True to what she had promised, by the time Troy peeled her off me it had been about ten seconds since she started, but by that point I was distracted with... Something oddly solid left behind after her right hand slipped out of my shirt. "Since when is it proper for someone to grope someone else?!"

"Like you care about what is 'proper'" Jane still was casually ignoring the flabbergasted people around them, giving me a pointed look as she walked off. Her message was clear; I could feel the tiny object she managed to tape against my skin, something that she seemingly thought that I would need while in that infernal place. Why? Well, the most likely thought in my mind was that she could see benefits with being on my side. Even if I wasn't able to see into the future, my massive group of people were likely her best bet to get out of Carver's camp. "See you around beautiful"

"I, uh..." Thankfully, my brain wasn't quite caught up on exactly what to say to her, making it sound exactly like I was nothing more than star-struck after that interaction. In my glance over to the others she was heading back to, Glenn looked somewhat jealous, Rebecca seemed to be confused, Christa was covering Rose's eyes (while her daughter was simply giggling from the short glimpse she saw), and Vince looked grossed out. "Okay?"

Troy tugged me along gently by my arm before anything else weird could go on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Mems!
> 
> imgflip.com/i/49gjmv
> 
> imgflip.com/i/49gjnc
> 
> imgflip.com/i/49gjnw
> 
> imgflip.com/i/49gjod
> 
> imgflip.com/i/49gjor
> 
> imgflip.com/i/49gjp0
> 
> imgflip.com/i/49gjpg)


	27. Sticks and Stones

By the time the two of us had managed to get far enough away from the roof - and the _very_ flirtatious Jane - I was still being dragged around by my arm when Troy seemed to direct us out of a lower door towards the front of their compound. It even seemed to be that he was moving on autopilot, as even when he got confused looks directed to him from other guards in the place (thankfully none of those people were Carver) he ignored them completely without so much as an eye-blink.

"Troy?" I finally dared to talk to him when he pushed the door open and lead me through it, walking down a thin walkway towards the expansion of their hardware store. They had gotten very little done in the meantime, some sparse bits of barriers kept the occasional roaming walker at bay... But for once, I was glad that he had that assault rifle on him.

Unlike the initial impression I had gotten from him, he whirled around on me the moment the automatic door closed right behind us, giving us essentially the most privacy that we could get in that compound. The fire burning in his eyes wasn't one of anger, no; it seemed to be that prideful combination of determination and curiosity. It seemed that his mind couldn't keep his questions away for any longer, and I calmly came to a halt along with him in front of the old comic book store that Luke could be found hiding in.

"I need answers" Despite the fact his jittery nerves were obvious in his handhold on the inside of my arm; his voice was as calm as could be. Perhaps it was because he knew shouting would only make the people on the roof too interested in what we might be doing, but it was commanding in such a way that I would have found it hard to lie to him even if he didn't know about the sky already. "How do you know about things that you shouldn't?"

"It's a game in my world, and-

"A _game_? Like, a children's game of ring around the Rosie?" Troy stopped me before I could start to rattle off my typical answer to people asking me about it, as naturally most people wouldn't assume that game automatically had to mean electronically... Especially when their world was just that bit behind mine in terms of technology.

"No, more like a video game" I could feel his penetrating gaze the moment I said that, and it frankly felt eerie similar to how I would feel belittled by my old friends at university; that feeling where I had to somehow give reasons for why my interest in video games were there. "It was inspired by those 'pick-your-own-adventure' books, or possibly even from those claims where people would survive easily in a world full of dead people walking"

"Why on earth would you want to play such a barbaric thing?!" The tone in his voice was acidic, clearly thinking that the only kind of people who would want to live in those worlds were psychopaths... And he was right; people who played the games generally admitted from the bottom of their hearts that they would never want that sort of life to be their reality. But the harsh look in his eyes and words seemed to be easily sanded off into a kinder one the moment my eyes started to get misty, as those memories of the very first time I played came back to me.

"...I wanted to save everyone" I admitted, laying my soul bare to him. Any kind of haughty response he was going to have seemed to leave as well, as he couldn't see anything beyond the painful truth there. "It's why I'm here today; that was something I couldn't do in my old world. I wished upon a blue comet, and somehow it brought me here the following morning"

"...And, those people with you" He began slowly, trying to understand what all of these things meant when they were linked together. As he spoke, his eyes seemed to glance ever so slightly at the grey sky above us; a typical thing for the people of this world when the blue comet was mentioned even if they couldn't see the sky anymore. "They're the people you... Saved?"

"Yes. Their original fates were to die at the hands of walkers, people or sometimes a combination of factors, but I wasn't having that" I explained, glancing up at the sky as I spoke. His eyes followed mine for a brief second as I did so, hopefully understanding that there was a link between the saved lives and the strange behaviour of the clouds over our heads. "Every single time I've saved someone from their death, the sky reacted in that strange manner that you saw before. Whether it was from the clouds growing or from them darkening over time... It's happened"

"If that's the case, why are you here? I can't imagine that this is what you were aiming for" Troy seemed to understand that being there was not my choice, especially combined with the fact I likely could have seen the situation coming from the moment I met up with Luke and the others within the cabin crew.

"In the game, it was simply because the story dictated that it happens. In this world however, I'd say it was because I underestimated the craftiness of Carver" As much as it felt like poison to even mention that man in a positive sense, there was also danger in ignoring just how nefarious that man could be. Troy's face was somewhat perplexing, as he naturally felt conflicted on hearing his boss talked about in such a manner by me. But if I had gotten anything right from that day, was that their relationship was purely in the sense that Carver provided him safety rather than any sort of respect. "You may not like to hear me say this, but I'm certainly not here to save that man’s life"

"He-

"Are you done lecturing her?" Russel interrupted us, clearly hearing our steadily increasing voices just a bit further from his station. Despite Troy's eyes angrily sweeping over to our intruder, Russel seemed undaunted by it; simply holding the door open to his end of the expansion with his shotgun raised high in the other hand. "Hurry up and do your check over here, I don't want to waste any time"

Troy grumbled under his breath from being interrupted yet again, turning around and stomping over towards the other irritable guard. As though there was an invisible chain linking the two of us, I followed right behind Troy yet again despite him letting go of my wrist. The two of us entered into that building right past Russel, my eyes finding Kenny, Mike, Alvin, Travis and Ben working to nail boards over the sensitive windows keeping the walkers at bay. There was no fighting going on between the former two - likely because it would have earned them a gut full of buckshot - but I was relieved to see Alvin completely unharmed.

"Prim! Oh, thank god" Kenny's voice was like music to my ears, so much so that I honestly wished that it would have been fine to do nothing more than embrace him tightly and nestle my face into the crook of his neck. While I knew such a thing was near to impossible under the circumstances, I did glance over to Troy for a brief second to see whether it was fine to talk to them despite Russel likely not being so agreeable on the matter. Despite our tense discussion just before, Troy gave a small nod as he walked over to Russel - clearly to keep the latter busy - allowing me to go and talk to them quietly... But I did hear him mutter something quietly underneath his breath right after he did so.

"...It's almost like you lied about that nickname"

I purposefully chose to not answer his remark. My gut instinct of answering 'I didn't' only would give him more hints as to something being different between myself and the twelve lovers I had within that compound, so it was better to keep that buried lest it bring my people trouble. It did mean that I was going to give some people a bit of a growling if it kept happening however.

"Hey Mike" I decided to do the odd thing of greeting the man who I knew the least first, as I had a gift for him. His face clearly portrayed that he didn't really know me all that well - which he didn't - but that didn't make any difference with me plucking out the delicate orchid from the back of my shirt. "Shel wanted me to get this to you. Apologies if it's a little pressed"

He completely ignored the fact that it wasn't as pristine as it could have been, carefully taking the stem from me as he admired it. Far from his tall and imposing stature and broody face, he treated the petals with such a delicate touch that one could have even surmised that he could handle a glass variant of the same flower. It seemed that Shel picking out the blue colour of this orchid wasn't for no particular reason, as Mike chuckled once he recognised the blue spikes on them.

" _Baby baby, don't be so blue... Baby baby, all I want, is to be with you"_ Mike sung a short part of a song that seemed to be sentimental in nature, likely one that meant something to both Shel and he. It was infectious, allowing the rest of us to enjoy in the short reprieve from the happiness that he was revelling in. Before long his trip down memory lane ended, reminding him of the depressing nature that he was still in the 'prisoner' group along with the rest of us. "Did Shel mention why I'm in this trouble group?"

"No, she didn't" She truly hadn't, and I couldn't remember the game mentioning a reason either. Rather than stand there however, I figured that I could guess a common occurrence within the games. "Trying to steal supplies?"

"For having an 'unauthorised relationship'" Mike clearly was angry, nearly seeming he was going to spit at the intonation of his final 'p'. While his wording did give me some vague thoughts, I initially placed them in the back of my mind for being too outlandish. Surely... Surely Carver wasn't at that level of dictatorship just yet.

"A what now?" Alvin asked him, as he had the most history within that group, yet even he seemed to be utterly confused by the term that Mike was using. "Back when we were here, there was absolutely no nonsense about relationships having to be authorised. Otherwise, I imagine that he would have said something about my relationship with Rebecca"

I bit my lip, as spilling the beans on Carver and Rebecca's dealings likely weren't going to end well either way. It was best for her to talk to her husband about it when the time was right, and Alvin knowing about it could only start fights between him and Carver... Which I was exactly trying to avoid.

"It likely happened after you guys left here" Ben spoke, as it sounded like the young man had been making friends with others within that group, beyond just people within his group. I knew he had potential from the game, and I was internally beaming when I was listening to him rattle off the information that he had gathered. "I was speaking to Reggie a bit yesterday, and he said that things have gotten a lot harsher after Carlos and the others escaped from this group"

"Everyone needs to get permission from Carver if they're getting into relationships with each other now, and his only reasoning is that he wants to 'ensure the future generation has the right skills and attitude'" Mike confirmed my worst fears, making this real life variant of Carver just like every other villain I had encountered; somehow ramped up to an impossibly high standard. "Tavia threw me in here after she caught Shel and I one night together"

I didn't have words to explain how utterly horrific that was to me. Forget just having a particular way of doing things, this was literally a form of eugenics, which often were used by the most horrendous people in history!

"Shit!" Unlike my lack of words, Troy swore the moment he glanced out of the front door of the building we were standing in, rushing over to me in such a speed that it wouldn't have been outlandish to assume that someone had lit him on fire. Before I could even ask him what was going on, he slung an arm around my waist and yanked me further into the store, bee-lining for one of the old shelving units that typical older stores had. "Russel, don't say anything!"

"What? Why are you suddenly-

Russel's outburst didn't stop Troy from ducking behind the shelving unit (and dragging me along with him), right as the door to the building opened again. I could only think of one clear reason why he would have dragged the both of us away at such a short notice, so I quietly curled my legs close to my chest and clung tight onto Troy to make us both appear smaller for a brief moment in time. Good timing too, as the voice coming from that new person walking in was exactly the person I was expecting them to be; that irritatingly gravelly smarmy voice lining his throat.

"Russel" Carver greeted the guard, earning him a short response in the form of an affirmative hum. I couldn't figure out why the guard wasn't saying anything in regards to Troy and myself hiding just a bit away from him (perhaps simply because it would get him in equal amounts of trouble), but I was grateful to hear that he wasn't immediately snitching on us. "I'm surprised you haven't moved those shelving units over to the window yet"

I couldn't help but glance up at Troy the moment Carver said that, but thankfully neither of us moved. Instead, we only seemed to communicate that same panicked expression in our eyes, begging the other to not get startled and make some loud noise. It was bad enough that we were lying on a dirty old cracked linoleum floor that would crinkle and crack with every possible movement, but doing the typical horror movie antic of uttering a surprised gasp would probably do either of our heads in.

With my head somewhat stuck against his chest, I could hear his heart thundering in his chest with the anxious nature of hiding there. But even though it likely lifted my own heartbeat quite a bit as well, it was quite comforting in some abstract way; a reminder that he was alive and well.

"The new guy in the cap was talking about some drug store that they used to inhabit; saying that the windows wouldn't be properly protected if we just shoved the shelves on it. They experienced that once before" Russel reported, and to my surprise Carver's only real response seemed to be a disinterested noise. It was as if he had only asked that question to act as some sort of ice breaker rather than because he had seen people hide behind them, and Russel's answer was smooth enough that it could really be seen as an answer from Kenny on what was best. "Is there anything else we can do for you?"

"Yes, there is" Carver's tone seemed to take on that... Kind of artificial politeness that made my skin crawl, sounding like he had come down here for far more than the typical act of checking in on his little workers. And if he was here for other reasons than that, then I had a sinking feeling in my gut that he was for a nefarious reason. "Alvin, could you come with me to my office please?"

Even though I knew it was equally pointless and stupid for me to do anything from my position, I couldn't help but clench my hands tightly into Troy's jacket. The man hiding with me seemed to believe that I was shortly going to storm out, so he gave me pointed stare to tell me to stay put yet again, but my worry for Alvin was high enough that I dared to mouth what was going to go wrong.

' _He's going to kill Alvin'_ I silently mouthed to my personal guard, with the sudden worry entering his eyes once he registered that my lips were saying to him. While I was exaggerating slightly, letting the called out man go to the office would certainly lead to his death... But it seemed that my plans earlier in the day to warn the others in my group were not in vain, saving Troy or I from getting into trouble.

"Sorry, we really need him here" Travis interrupted the request that the dictator had made long before anyone could agree to the trade (if it could even be referred to as a trade in the first place), doing what he essentially knew best; talking complete nonsense at an extremely fast pace. "Kenny's getting kind of old, Mike dropped a hammer on his foot at one point - you know, clumsy men, am I right? - Ben doesn't have two working hands right now due to his hook being taken away from him and I think I'm discovering that I have a bit of hayfever and a possible allergy to cedar wood which I think these planks are made of and we really need to get things done here before that horde arrives and-

"Would you shut the fuck up?" Carver cut off Travis' rambling, to which the younger man obediently replied with a 'yes sir' so that he wouldn't get slapped around like I had been that morning. But even if my youngest lover had gotten not much more done than yammer into Carver's ear for half a second, it did paint the picture to Alvin and the others there that the previous arrangement was not good for _anyone_. As such, Alvin no longer seemed to have the attitude of 'if he was going to do something, then he would have done it already _',_ and didn't easily offer to go with him... Making the entire affair far too irritating for Carver to pull off as soon as he would have liked. "...Bring him by tonight"

Carver stuck around in the building for a couple of seconds longer, possibly to sweep his eyes over the entire room, while I was keeping my eyes tightly focused on his shadow looming nearby. His long glance proved to not provide him with any new answers, and before long we could hear the sound of the door opening combined with his footsteps quietly receding from our location. His shadow left at nearly the exact same time, but I decided that the attitude of 'better safe than sorry' were really valid in that moment; remaining motionless against Troy's chest until we were certain the trouble had left.

"...You five are probably better off getting back to work" Russel quietly mentioned, clearly finding the experience a little too exhausting for his liking. It took them a couple of seconds, but before long I could hear Ben, Mike and Travis ushering the others back to work (with the former even reassuring Kenny quietly that it was perfectly fine to be a little disappointed that I was probably going to be leaving so soon without talking in depth). Russel's feet didn't stay by the door like he had been doing for the entire time we had been there; instead softly padding our way until he came into view, looking down at us with... An unexpected combo of pity and irritation that he even had to lie by omission in the first place. "You better be happy for this"

"More than you can know, you bastard" Troy himself had quite the cocktail of emotions stirring around, with his variants being some bits of humour sprinkled in around complete gratitude. They likely were still far from friends, but at the very least they could call each other comrades. He released my waist from his arm, slowly standing up and peering over the shelf in first instance like we were in the greenhouse all over again. "Do you mind watching Primrose for a second while I make sure that Carver is fully gone?"

"Wha-Are you out of your mind?!" Russel asked him in irritation, seeing the idea of watching me as somehow more irritating than lying to their temperamental boss. Yet another sign that this wasn't the first time these guys had dealt with his mood swings. "Aren't you supposed to be watching her like a hawk?!"

"Eh, she doesn't bite" Troy didn't see the problem in it, walking off to look through the glass on the door without another mention of it. Russel stared at the back of his head like he was completely stupid, before eventually sweeping over to look at me as I carefully peeled myself off the wall. He and I certainly hadn't gotten along before, but considering how well I was getting along with Troy and the fact that I _was_ grateful about him keeping mum, I supposed I could try offering an olive branch one more time.

"Long day, huh?" I asked him sympathetically, and his response was a long, slow sigh that seemed to embody the thought of 'what gave it away?'. He didn't seem to mind me talking as much this time around, so perhaps he too was tired of us bickering with each other... Or who knows, maybe me being slapped in the face that morning put things into a different perspective for him. "Is that normal, you guys trying to tiptoe around Carver?"

"...It shouldn't be" Unlike his other fellow guards, he surprised me by answering the question in such a way that told me that he had already been thinking about this for a long time. With his experience he was the most likely person out of the DLC to recognise whether things were taking a bad turn for the worse, and his harsh reaction to me pointing out that it was just like Steve and Nate likely make those thoughts in his head confirm everything... But he didn't want it to be true. "What kind of person does it make me when I somehow find my way into the groups of three utter monsters?"

"Honestly? I think it means that you're incredibly unlucky" I tried to paint it in a positive light, but it also was truly what I believed. Russel didn't seem to agree with me on that - his dry laugh said as much - but I really wanted to believe in him. "No, seriously. You may be a bit more trusting in the first instance, but I don't think you're bad. If you were, you would have just stayed with Steve, right?

"I suppose" Russel eventually relented, if only quietly under his breath. Forgiving himself seemed to be a much longer process than a couple of words could fix (which was understandable, problems often could only be fixed by the person themselves rather than others), but I hoped that he understood that the option of leaving was not cowardly; it only would be if he stayed out of some misguided ignorance.

"The only thing it takes for bad men to win, is for good men to do nothing" I remembered a saying that my father used to say quite often, one which had circulated around in his side of the family from their history in the second world war. It was something that had always stuck by me as I grew up, but by far I hoped it would help him in understanding the difference between surviving by any means necessary in contrast to surviving and being human at the same time. But even more, I wanted him to understand that good people still existed, even in such a harsh world. "A word of advice; don't take Alvin to Carver's office tonight. It's going to end badly for him"

Russel's eyes lifted from his constant gaze at the floor, instead daring to look me in the eyes. Quite unexpectedly, he nodded his head, believing that I was telling him something meaningful. In the worst case scenario, Carver would be pissed at Russel, but it wasn't like it was that uncommon within their stronghold. But best case scenario was that he was going to save a good man’s life, and he was tired of seeing people die.

"Let's go Primrose" Troy called for me, and I only had to give one more look to Russel with some waves to the five workers before I was ready for him. I was eager to be in some location where we wouldn't get into trouble with Carver, and that was frankly far from here. "Our last location is going to be back inside the hardware store, so it shouldn't be as risky if we're seen over there"

"I could literally sneeze wrong in front of Carver and be considered disrespectful" I cracked a small joke, which I was pleased to get a hearty chuckle in agreement with from the guard even as his face was pressed tight against the window. But even with my joke, I understood that being around my group was less about getting me in trouble; it was going to get Troy in trouble. And because he had done so well for me that day, I wanted to see him safe. "But I get it, let's go"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maim!  
> https://imgflip.com/i/4akobc  
> https://imgflip.com/i/4akobr  
> https://imgflip.com/i/4akock  
> https://imgflip.com/i/4akodh  
> https://imgflip.com/i/4akoe2


	28. Forgive and For-Fuck Yourself

Leaving the building at the end of the expansion, my mind was focused on speed walking back over to the hardware store before Carver could really spot us. By the sound of Troy following right behind me, he had a similar plan in mind... Until I heard him pause. Like a mirror, I imitated him by halting on the spot and checking exactly what he was doing; that he was peering over the thin wooden barricade. I would have presumed that it was nothing more than him scoping out how far away the horde was, but his next words prevented me from moving ahead without him.

"What the hell, is that a cow?" My head swivelled to look for the aforementioned animal once I heard him say that, and it was ridiculously easy to find them once I stood on my toes near the fence. Maybelle and Bramble were lying down near the fence, their eyes looking at the both of us with a wide-eyed curiosity. Even Sam was with them, sitting right in between the two and panting softly. I could have sworn that all three of them looked that bit more excited once they spotted me, but perhaps that was simply because I was biased. "And a dog too! My god, I haven't seen any animals since... Well, two years ago"

"You like dogs and cows?" I couldn't help but ask him that, as there was very little indication from the game whether people had preferences or dislikes in terms of pets. That, and I wasn't quite sure if it was a good idea to mention that I knew these animals quite well... Especially considering which people I had last seen those animals with at the Moonstar Lodge.

"Definitely dogs, but I must admit that cows are a bit of an unknown" Troy admitted to me, his hand somewhat nervously hovering over Maybelle's head. Her only response to his attempt to be nice was snorting softly, before turning her head away. He sighed, but it seemed that it wasn't because of being snubbed by the four footed mammal. "It's a shame that Carver would only see them as potential food sources. Go on, shoo!"

All three of the animals sitting there ignored his shouting, and continued to do so even when the man started to wave his hands in a bit of a frenzied manner. It was right when he was thinking of waving around his AK-47 (they likely wouldn't understand the danger behind it anyway), that I knelt down close to the ground where I could reach underneath the fence. I felt safe to do so for a moment because of the fact that no walkers had reached the fence just yet, which prompted me to gently reach my hand out to scratch underneath Bramble's chin; his eyes closing and slightly raising in a pleased manner. Sam whined a little from the fact that I wasn't paying attention to him instead, but he obediently stayed still despite that.

It was when I glanced over at Maybelle that I noticed that she was lying down in an odd way. Instead of curling her legs underneath herself she was slightly tilted to the side, as though she didn't want to fully rest her right side down onto the ground. And she certainly did seem to have a good reason; as when I inspected that area closer I could see... Duck, hiding underneath her.

He - and hopefully the two men with him - had likely seen us arguing right before we met up with Russel's group, so he had snuck closer to the fence underneath Maybelle. After all, most of the people within that compound likely had no clue about people covering themselves in guts, so they would only spot a grimy walker trapped underneath a cow; if they even did see him in the first place.

He softly lifted up his index finger in a shushing motion, but without his finger coming anywhere near his lips; as his body was covered in the gunk that typically came from a walker. With a careful precise movement, he picked out a piece of paper from his pants pocket, before flicking it the bit of distance between us. I didn't dare pick it up in case Troy could spot me doing so out of the corner of his eye, but I did gently flip it open on the ground in front of me so that I could read what had been written in charcoal.

**_"We're all alright, we managed to get the animals to safety after the fire at the lodge, and then managed to follow the tire tracks of that truck to Carver's compound. We don't know how to get inside without alerting someone in the building you are in, but we're ready whenever you are to help out in whatever way we can. Sincerely, Pete"_ **

The note clearly had been written in a way so that it could be delivered to anyone within the group without getting wires crossed, but it still felt like a heartfelt note to me. If I held my hand on the note, then it meant that it was just that bit closer to seeing Pete and Shawn again... But not quite yet.

I didn't have my piece of charcoal after Vince took my cargo tool belt away, but that didn't mean my options were completely gone. After purposefully staring Duck in the eyes - making sure that I had his full attention - I slowly mouthed the words 'Wait until we launch our escape plan. Provide support then'. It did take a second round of me mouthing that before he understood it, but I was confident in him. He dared to spend a little bit more time mouthing the words 'Be safe', before tucking himself further underneath Maybelle in preparation for sneaking back to the treeline behind him.

As for me, I carefully tucked the piece of paper underneath the nearest fence post, with the charcoal side down so that the writing would inevitably become illegible before long. Now that I had been reassured that those six had survived their trial perfectly fine, I could focus more on helping the people inside the compound.

"Bah, I give up. If you're still here by the time someone else finds you, you're going to end up as beef mince" Troy finally gave up on scaring the obviously unafraid animals away, huffing a little and tucking his assault rifle away again. Even so, I could still tell that he cared about their safety, as I couldn't imagine any other reason why he'd still warn them after they refused to move. "...What are you doing down there?"

He clearly noticed now that I was kneeling on the ground, only just a little bit behind him. Telling him that I was petting one of the cows was an option, but he probably would wonder why the animal would be so pleasant to me if I didn't know it. I also wanted to avoid him ducking down and looking himself, as Maybelle wouldn't be able to hide Duck well enough without squashing him entirely. And so, I went for the option that I had seen worked the best against him; sudden unexplained flirting.

"Admiring your beautiful behind" I answered with a completely blunt yet honest tone, and it got the exact reaction I was expecting; with his eyes widening to gargantuan size. Not only that, he also seemed to twist around in a hurry, swatting the air right in front of me with his hand as though to waft me away from him. I laughed at his somewhat exaggerated reaction, standing up to my full height so that the attention was no longer on my kneeling form. "I'm kidding, I wouldn't do that if you weren't into me. I actually was looking closer at the animals, because it's been so long since I saw them"

"Oh..." Troy seemed unsure of what to make of my secondary remark about consent, as it seemed to be that he hadn't even considered that I may have thought of him in that way. Now that he did surmise that, he seemed to be... Extra uncomfortable for some particular reason. "Look, I don't... I don't know if that's what you're trying to do here, but I don't... I don't really... Respond to that"

"That?" His wording was odd enough that I couldn't understand what he was referring to, which unfortunately meant that he would either have to elaborate on what he meant or completely drop the subject. He seemed to choose the former.

"...Romantic feelings" He explained more in depth, finally explaining his annoyed look at Shel's blunder that morning. Of course someone who was different than most in terms of romantic feelings would be prickly if someone accidentally claimed that someone could change that about themselves, and it equally made sense that he wouldn't poke fun at Vince about his asexuality if he could empathize. "Vince said that people used to be called 'aromantic' if they didn't feel romantic interest, or felt repulsed by it. So... I guess that's what I am"

"Oh! That's cool!" The words tumbled out of my mouth before I could really consider whether it was the right thing to say (I imagine some people might have been a bit irritated to hear the same thing told to them time and time again), but it seemed that it was not something he had heard often before; as his face reflected back a surprised expression. Clearly, it seemed to be the exception, as his following words backed up.

"...Really? You don't think it's gross that I only experience attraction?" Troy asked me, telling me that he had likely heard those exact words from others in the past. Quite the opposite from me, as I was more than happy to shake my head with a smile on my face. "You don't think I just use it as an excuse to sleep with people and then hightail it when they expect some kind of commitment?"

"No, I truly don't. If you truly were any of those things that you just described, then you wouldn't be worried or upset about someone questioning your aromanticism, would you?" I quite gladly explained how I viewed it, even if it was partially inspired from another video game that I loved back in my world. It felt quite bad to see that he still was having a hard time believing it, undoubtedly from the several times he had been treated horribly from his past partners (or even possibly by people he turned down when they asked him out). "Sexualities and romantic attractions aren't something to be 'fixed', they simply are how you are. I know from experience how hard it can be to hide who you are based on how people might react, and I think it's really admirable that you've talked to Vince about this already"

"You know from experience" He parroted that one particular phrase, as it caught his attention the most out of that entire sentence. I nodded yet again, perhaps even suggesting that he guess what I was from the competitive spark in my eyes. Troy took that challenge very seriously, tapping his foot a little bit as he stared intensely at me, as though he could tell simply from glancing at me. Unfortunately for him, I had left my poly and bisexual pride pins in my old universe. "You didn't look grossed out from Jane kissing you... And you like Carlos, so you're into both men and women?"

"Congrats" I giggled, somewhat happy that he managed to pick out my correct sexuality. He didn't attempt my romantic orientation nor did he pick out that I was poly, but I supposed that the former was an uncomfortable subject for him and the latter was not as easily distinguishable. "The point I'm getting at is, I think you're a pretty cool dude no matter who you're into or not into. Unless you're into children; then we'll have a problem"

"That's... I really appreciate that" Troy gave me possibly the best kind of reward that he could manage at that point in time, a very rare treat that he had yet to show to anyone; he gave a genuine, warm and soft smile at me. If I had a camera in my hands at the time, you could be certain that I would have taken a picture to preserve it for all time, but I settled for burying it deep within my mind instead. "It's going to be great having you around"

While I somewhat doubted the idea of how great it would be if we both remained in that compound with Carver, I completely understood the sentiment he was trying to communicate. With a smile coming over my own face in a natural response to his own, I politely gestured off towards the door at the hardware store, letting the two of us set off as a friendly pair. I did cast a quick glance to the fence as we left that place, seeing that Maybelle, Bramble, Sam and Duck were about halfway back to the trees while we were talking, which only made my already sky-high emotions reach a new peak.

It didn't take all that long to figure out where the final group of workers was stationed, as before long I could see Wyatt at one end of the hardware store. They must have been doing things on the outside - bringing in boxes of supplies from the look of the wood they were trying to break down - while we were there.

I finally figured out where Mark and Omid had been, the two of them working with small hammers to pull out nails out of the boxes. Carlos seemed to take a more 'organiser' role than the others due to his smaller muscle ability, hovering near the boxes to write down whatever was taken out of the boxes. Luke and Nick were there as well, the two of them working with their bare hands - likely in fear that they would use the tools on their guard rather than the boxes - but the deadly glare Nick was giving Wyatt was worrying enough. Frankly, I was equally surprised and relieved that there hadn't been a murder just yet.

"I need to interrupt before Nick decides to steal Omid's hammer and bury it in Wyatt's head" I informed Troy that I didn't think things were going to well much longer, and that I really needed to be there. Troy's eyes first seemed to swing over to the glass window with Carver's office - making sure the irritable man in the puffy coat wasn't watching us - before he nodded at me and started to power walk over the floor.

"Go" Far from just tolerating me walking off without him being present, he was _insisting_ that I leave him to handle the situation. Quite high praise from someone who in the same day was claiming that 'he had done worse' in terms of watching over me; and I was more than happy to oblige.

"Guys" Rather than surprise them, I softly called that out to announce my arrival. It wasn't only the five workers that reacted to my voice - Wyatt naturally responded as well - but it was clear that the former were far more excited to see me.

"Gracias a dios" Carlos returned to his native language for a split second as he rose to approach me, gently taking my shoulders in his hands as he softly kissed my forehead. He was quite lucky compared to the thirteen others who likely had wished to do the same to me, as he didn't have to bury it unlike them.

"Whatever he said" Omid agreed with him, being able to pick up that the other man was speaking in a relieved sense. Intonation was something that all people were blessed with, regardless of what language people spoke. While he didn't touch me, the look he gave me with his eyes was heart-melting and sweet in equal measures.

"I'm very surprised that you're on good terms with Troy" Luke admitted his surprise, quite easily spotting the noticeable difference between the icy attitude that the guard and I shared that morning compared to the easy going comfortable atmosphere that we seemed to exude. Just to prove it, I turned around to glance at Troy and Wyatt - the latter of which was asking the other in exasperation why he was letting me have free roam of the place - before giving my personal guard a wave. Although somewhat corny, Troy waved right back with a small smile decorating his lips, further shocking the three men who knew him before they escaped. "Did you cast a spell on him or something? He was a grumpy asshole last time I checked"

"To be fair, I thought the same thing before he and I spent time together" I joked, but I could tell that Luke, Nick and Carlos were not convinced. Ah well, there was going to be plenty of time to correct first impressions when I took Troy into my own group.

Mark didn't greet me verbally like the others did, but he did dare to touch my shoulder gently; his special dog tags jingling against his chest with his movements. The only one that had a combination of silence and a distracted attitude was Nick, who despite coming closer still seemed to have a sharp focus on the same man he was looking at before.

"I heard from Vince that you swapped with Rebecca into this group" I purposefully spoke to him, his head snapping over to me in a startled manner, clearly not entirely expecting me to talk to him just yet. After I had his attention, I gestured to Wyatt with a nod of the head, spelling out that I knew why he was there. "I'm assuming that it's for the obvious reason"

"We've been trying to keep him calm" Mark explained, to which Nick scoffed at. I could understand why; as it sounded perfectly reasonable that Nick would be upset at several people ignoring real trauma done to him, especially if what he had said was true about Wyatt not doing a thing when his mother was attacked.

...But like the Vince and Glenn fight, there was a sneaking suspicion in the back of my mind that there likely was more to this scenario than met the eye. In the worst case scenario it was yet again a 'he said versus he said', but I couldn't figure out any of that if I only guessed about it from afar.

"I could possibly sweet talk Troy so that Nick and I can get a private moment with Wyatt. Figure out what actually happened, you know?" I offered to the frustrated man, and the relief seemed to wash over him like a river. My suspicion was less that he was so happy from me giving him exactly what he wanted, but more in line with that someone was finally telling him 'It's alright to be mad at someone who had wronged you'... Which I knew was the best thing for those people to hear.

"...I'd love that" Nick thanked me with a tender smile, and my instinctive response was to tell him that it was no trouble at all. Luke looked more than a little bit uncertain, giving a look between his best friend and I, but I gave that very same glance of his a confident look. I knew what I was doing.

"Don't do something you might regret later" Carlos felt it necessary to remind Nick of that, but the latter waved him off with a disinterested gesture. Even with that dismissive attitude coming from his other friends, they did gently part so that he was able to come into step with me, the two of us moving over the floor to where the two guards were staying.

Troy noticed us approaching, but did not much more than raise an eyebrow at me to ask why we were coming over there. Wyatt... Well, he naturally looked a bit afraid of the man accompanying me.

"I think it's about time that Wyatt and Nick finally have that talk about what happened to Nick's mother" I explained it honestly to my guard, who then seemed to tilt his eyes over to Nick beside me to judge whether it would turn violent if he left. Nick certainly didn't look to be in the forgiving mood, but he did relax his shoulders ever so slightly to give the impression that he would hear the other out.

"As long as you can ensure that he won't kill Wyatt if things go sideways" Troy made that ultimatum, which I felt that I could manage considering how close I was to Nick. I glanced to the aforementioned man, who huffed slightly with the decision, but seemingly accepted that it was the best he was going to get.

"Can I at least punch him?" Nick tried his luck, and it seemed to be that Troy was forgiving in that instance.

"...If he purposefully did it, then sure" He hesitated initially, but eventually accepted that there was the chance that Wyatt would end up with a black eye at the very least.

"Troy!" Wyatt protested against Troy making that decision, but I felt that it was equally to do with the very fact that he allowing Nick and I to make demands in the first place; let alone the fact that violence might still happen. The other guard completely ignored him, shrugging his shoulders in a way that suggested that he was saying 'don't do the crime, if you can't do the time', before leaving us to it.

Wyatt seemed to lose his courage the moment Troy left, completely shutting down in terms of talking. It even seemed to be difficult for him to just glance at Nick, instead shifting his eyes to me... Before eventually losing his nerve there as well, looking at the ground.

"Well?!" Nick impatiently pressed him to start talking, causing the other to flinch. But aside from doing that, it did get some kind of result out of him, as Wyatt did at least find some words.

"I... I don't know where to start" Wyatt ashamedly admitted that, which prompted me to give him some coaxing.

"I'd say that it would be good to start from the beginning. Why would you even take in someone who was bitten in the first place?" I asked, as I didn't see any reason why he would do such a thing. And at the very least, I think that there had to have been a good reason... I hoped.

"Around two years ago, my boyfriend and I accidentally got into a fight with some really messed up people. We were chased by one of them into a really foggy wooded area where we... Got separated" Wyatt truly did start at the beginning, talking about events that sounded exactly like what had happened in the DLC. And considering the fact he was even in Howe's Hardware in the first place, then that likely meant that his description of 'got separated' meant that he was forced to leave behind Eddie when Nate had tried to attack him in their car. But huh, the two of them being boyfriends? I hadn't really linked that between them, but it was neat to figure out. "I hadn't seen my boyfriend since. I didn't even know if he was dead or alive! Or... You know, undead. As such, I was desperate to find out what happened to him"

"...The person who was bitten was Nate" I quickly linked together some of the puzzle pieces that I had been presented with, as it seemed like the most likely answer. Wyatt and Nick looked at me confused, as of course the latter didn't know any of this beforehand and the former didn't really figure out his attacker’s name. "Oh, um... The guy who attacked you two years ago. His name is Nate"

"Oh, is it? I never really asked because... You know, people don't care about that when they are attacking you. But yes, it was him who was bitten" Wyatt confirmed that my guess was completely correct, my powers of that world finally coming out in conversation with him. If he didn't think I was able to before, he certainly believed in it now. "When he turned up at the store on his last legs, I begged Carver to take him in temporarily. I needed to know what happened to Eddie, even if it turned out to be the worst possible scenario"

Nick didn't have a real retort against that, some of the fight leaving him. He could likely empathize very well with that kind of scenario, even if he hadn't encountered it personally in his life. The best I could do was by gently linking my fingers in between his, reminding him that I was there for him no matter what result he would eventually decide on.

"Carver eventually allowed me to take him in, but mandated that I was the only one allowed to watch over him; he wouldn't waste any kind of manpower beyond mine on it" Wyatt continued with his story, steadily leading to the part we all remembered a little too well. Nick sighed and slowly closed his eyes, as he knew his mother better than anyone there; he knew that she likely couldn't ignore Wyatt during that time of need. "After days of staying awake and trying to get information out of that bastard, I was practically dead on my feet. Despite the fact I didn't ask for help, Maryanne asked me whether I wanted her to take over so that I could get a short rest"

"...What did you tell her?" Nick asked him softly, his tone softening to the point where he no longer sounded angry with Wyatt. If anything, it sounded more like he was having a casual conversation with an old friend, remembering his mother fondly.

"I told her that I didn't want to put her in danger, but she told me that she wasn't having any of it" Wyatt admitted, a short note of dry laughter leaving his mouth at the memory of the mother. Like Pete described her, she was no nonsense, so she would have been able to see from afar that Wyatt was fibbing when he told her that she didn't need to help him. "She took over for me, and I tried to stay awake regardless but I... I must have fallen asleep, because I got awoken by... By..."

'By her being attacked' undoubtedly was the end of that sentence, but it stung enough in his memory that he couldn't find it in him to repeat the sentence. Nick seemed to reflect exactly the same attitude that Wyatt did, his shoulders completely deflated in realising that the unfortunate truth was that... His mother's death truly was an accident. Wyatt likely could have taken alternate decisions that would have resulted in a better outcome, but he had never purposefully tried to hurt his mother - quite the opposite.

"I am so sorry Nick" Wyatt couldn't find anything else to say than that, but Nick couldn't find it in him to respond to that; standing there utterly heartbroken. With his silence, Wyatt seemed to find it necessary to fill it, uncomfortable with the lack of words passing between them. "When she got bitten she begged me to shoot her; she didn't want you to see her like that. I know that I should have talked to you first before making such a decision, but-

"That's enough" I gently stopped Wyatt from talking further, as Nick needed a moment to process everything he just heard. While I patted my special lover on the back, I felt that it was good that the two of them finally had this talk with each other. "Do you still feel like punching him?"

Nick raised his misty eyes up from the floor, staring at Wyatt across from him for a moment. Wyatt seemed to look more relaxed, perhaps even trying to say without words that he would accept the other man hitting him if it would help in some manner, but Nick softly shook his head before long.

"I'm still mad that my mother got hurt, but... I'm not mad at Wyatt" Those frustrated feelings of being hard done by still were hard to deal with, but at the very least he had a better idea of who he was supposed to direct those at. It was quite easy to see who he was mad at now, especially when he turned his eyes to glare at the currently empty glass box that hovered at one end of that hardware store.

"You and me both bud" Wyatt agreed, as frankly his impression of their current leader had soured dramatically in the meantime. Even if he still forgave Carver for his decision to assign him alone to the slowly dying Nate, he was _pissed_ at being left behind on the mission to catch all of us. But those weren't the only things passing around in his mind, especially not that he now had heard me mention some of my knowledge. "Primrose, right? You know things about our world, I've heard"

"I do" I didn't see any reason why I had to lie about it to him, as Wyatt had been downright lovely compared to some of the other guards when they had first met me.

"Do you... Do you know what happened to Eddie?" He asked me softly, showing that he was somewhat scared of the answer. While anyone would likely admit that they would rather hear a person was dead rather than never knowing for the rest of their life, but that didn't mean they were unafraid of that answer possibly being the truth. But, to both my relief and his, I had good news for him.

"If everything goes exactly as it should, then he is alive" I was pleased to give him that good news, seeing the utter happiness spring into his eyes. There was hope for the future now, which meant that the drudgery of surviving each day would undoubtedly be that much easier for him to do. "I don't know where he is right now, but we should see him in two years at the soonest; in a community called New Richmond, or also known as the New Frontier"

Wyatt found a roundabout way of thanking me, coming forward to hug me for giving him that good news. While a little surprised by it, I managed to weasel my arms out of his grip to gently pat his back, the two of us getting a far better relationship in a short time than I may have expected.

"Primrose" Troy's voice took me out of my euphoria, his head nodding in the opposite direction; clearly spelling out that it was time to go.

"Alright" I accepted that, gently releasing Wyatt from our hug. While we were ready to, I did have something that I quickly wanted to say before I left. "Take care of Nick and the others for me please"

Wyatt nodded his head, before urging me to leave with Troy. He understood just as well that we did - perhaps even better than I did - that being caught there was not going to end well for anyone. Carlos, Luke, Mark and Omid were forced to watch me leave with not much more than regret in their eyes, but Nick was too distracted to wave goodbye to me. Wyatt was there comforting him, the two of them sharing a hug to deal with their emotions... And I would have liked nothing more than to remain for them. Unfortunately, it would seem that my luck for avoiding one particular person had run out.

**"Troy, bring Primrose up to my office"**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Mimosas!
> 
> imgflip.com/i/4b6pth  
> imgflip.com/i/4b6ptw  
> imgflip.com/i/4b6pu9  
> imgflip.com/i/4b6puq  
> imgflip.com/i/4b6pv6  
> imgflip.com/i/4b6pvp)


	29. Ugly Reflection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning; A character threatens to rape another character within this chapter. Nothing ends up happening, but I still think people should be careful with this chapter if these themes may disturb or upset you.

Ascending that staircase was a daunting task; far more than it had ever been in the game. Admittedly, that may have been because there wasn't really much choice in that scenario, but it didn't ease my mind to think about it in such a manner. Things only seemed to get exacerbated in this new world of ours, both in the good sense... And the bad.

Troy came to a halt beside me once he noticed my clear hesitation, the look in his eyes seemingly saying that he could understand my unwillingness. Perhaps he too would have found some kind of excuse if he could, his face reflecting that same uncomfortable look that he had earlier in the day at the idea of leaving me alone with his current leader. He seemed to have also brought out his assault rifle from his holster in a protective gesture, as though he now felt that he had more reason to bring it out than he had before.

"...Let's get this over with" I sighed deeply, sincerely hoping that Carver simply wanted to see me for the same reason that he would want to see Clementine in the game; to intimidate me. It would be a blessing in contrast to how he would treat other guests who entered into that office, with my choices settling somewhere between Alvin and Rebecca in terms of how horrific it could be.

There was a part of me that wanted to cringe at how loud my boots ended up being as I stepped up those stairs, Troy's and my silence seemed to somehow make it ear-gratingly loud compared to any other time I would have heard them. My personal guard soon joined me in ascending those stairs, and personally I felt far safer when I could spot his shadow hovering over me as I neared the door.

Troy reached out with his hand to knock on the wooden door, the old forgotten placard on the door (which said that the room used to be the 'supervisors' room) rattling a little with the vibrations made from that gesture. An answer came quite quickly after that, the all-too familiar gruff gravelly voice telling us to enter.

As that door swung open it creaked, but that was nowhere as unsettling as the very fact that Carver seemed to be staring straight at us; as though he had been pointedly staring at the door in anticipation for our arrival.

"Ah, you're here" Despite the fact it was clear that it was not a coincidence, his tone seemed to be oddly upbeat in nature as though he was pleased we had decided to come to him. Carver lifted himself from the chair behind his desk, before walking across the room towards the chair that I could easily identify as the one that the player could find Alvin in if he survived at the lodge. "Take a seat"

Part of me wondered whether he even knew the significance of that chair. Was he purposefully inviting me to it because he knew that he was planning on beating Alvin half to death earlier that day, or was this simply his attempt to 'subvert' what I knew? Silently, I decided to sit in that chair, even though that heavy feeling in the bottom of my gut seemed to flare up; my body warning me of the danger both mentally and almost literally.

"You can go Troy" Carver dismissed the guard still lingering by the door, which immediately seemed to sit badly with him as well. His face wasn't anywhere near as good at showing his poker face; Troy's face reflecting the very same ill at ease feeling that bubbled around in my own gut. His eyes glanced over to me before back to his boss, as though to silently ask whether Carver was certain... But his only answer came in the form of the latter glowering at him. With uncertainty plaguing his movements, Troy slowly took the handle of the door in his hands, before shutting the door and leaving me with that man.

It only seemed to be once we could hear the soft _click_ of the door shutting that Carver was satisfied, the moustached man turning around and stalking back over to his desk as Troy's footsteps seemed to retreat back down the stairs. At least something seemed to be familiar there, with Carver hoisting himself on the corner of his desk as he smirked at me, taking some kind of pleasure from the fact that he could tower over me in that position.

"I'm sure you know why you're here right now" Carver opened with that, his mind clearly thinking that I was able to predict nearly everything that he would do. Frankly, the closest I could get to that would be to guess what he would do; it had been what I was doing that entire time I was in that new world, basing my guesses from the personalities that I had gleaned from the games. I could only hope that my very first guess - that he was going to make good on his promise to have sex with me - was far from the mark.

"I don't know; why am I here?" I decided to play ignorant, as I didn't even want to put that mental image in his mind if I could help it. My non-committal answer didn't seem to dissuade him; his stance slightly shifting from an upright position as he leaned slightly closer with a growing wolfish grin crossing his lips. The closer he got the more my nose was able to pick up the lingering scent of oak and burnt cedar floating off him - and unfortunately for those two smells, they were going to end up burned into my mind as horrific scents because of who I now associated them with.

"You and I are quite similar you know. We have this natural charisma around us that makes people trust us, even if we have to wear a certain personality for them to lower their guard" Initially my first instinct was to snort in contempt with him even remotely comparing the two of us, but when I really thought about it... He was getting disturbingly close to the truth in some regards. There certainly had been times that I had purposefully plastered a different kind of emotion on my face than the one I actually felt in order to get people to do what I needed - been friendlier than I would have wanted to, played on some of their insecurities, put up this persona of helplessness so that people would underestimate me, and it went on - all because I had insider knowledge on how the majority of them worked. "But most of all, we'd gladly get rid of anything in our way if it meant getting our way"

...That too held some truth for me. John and Jolene from the first season were the biggest glaring things proving that theory, and they certainly weren't the exception out of people I had encountered. Frankly, anyone that I didn't consider to be 'saveable' - whether it came from me liking them or because I felt that they were good people - I considered to be expendable. If Troy hadn't endeared himself to me, then he too would have fit into the latter category.

"It's that kind of instinct that will end up creating a new generation of people who can survive in this new age" Far from seeing it as a downside, Carver wanted that exact kind of attitude to thrive in future generations, far more than just the spiel he gave Clementine about her having courage and drive. But unlike my daughter, I wasn't considered to be part of what would be the 'new generation'... I was likely going to be considered the person who would bear that generation. And if the way he seemed to creep closer to me was any indication, then it was going to be sooner rather than later in his opinion. "Combine that with your abilities, and our offspring will usher in an age that will surpass those around us"

"My abilities aren't hereditary" I felt it was absolutely necessary to squash his thoughts about bearing some kind of super-soldier, even if it was the flimsiest of reasons that brought it down. His wolfish glint leaving for a second gave me some hope, especially when I noticed that it was combined with confusion taking its place. "My abilities of seeing into the future aren't actually me seeing into the future; it's simply the easy term that people give to it. I just happen to know a bunch of information about this world, and happen to be in the right place at the right time generally"

There was a momentary silence that fell over us after I admitted that, Carver seemingly trying to determine from my facial expression whether he could spot if someone was bullshitting him. I truly considered dropping my stoic mask around him for a second, until the thought of what he might do if I showed even a modicum of fear reared its head in the back of my mind. Whether it was exactly because I had kept my face completely blank or just my rotten luck whenever I was trying to be completely honest with that man, it seemed to go in the complete wrong direction from what I had hoped; he was certain that I was lying to him yet again.

"You don't know that for certain; you haven't had your own children"

Ah, no, never mind. It was closer to the fact that he was just stubbornly refusing to believe that I couldn't pass it on, rather than being certain that I was lying about it... Not that that is much better than the other alternative. I couldn't even pretend that Clementine was my extremely different looking blood related daughter, as he already heard me talk about how she was adoptive all the way back at the cabin.

"No, I'm serious; I can't pass it on" Even with the possibility that he would just take it all as nonsense, there was a growing sense of dread in my body that made me want to argue that I _really_ couldn't do it. But most of all, I just didn't want him to lay his hands on me in any manner. "I was a university student who just happened to play a lot of a video games, that's it"

"I'll ensure that you, Carlos and your precious children are taken care of quite well in compensation" By that point Carver was completely ignoring what I was saying, his casual wave of the hand telling me that he thought that my talk about video games was more down to rambling some kind of nonsense rather than speaking the truth. To make things worse, that blasted smile was back on his lips - quite the opposite to my steadily growing grimace. "I'm sure your _pendejo_ would agree that it’s for the greater good"

I seemed to lose my voice when he stood up from his position on his desk, striding across the short distance that separated us. All of the things I had learned in that new world about defending myself seemed to hide themselves in the recesses of my mind, turning me into nothing more than a horrifically frightened twenty-three year old... Which was exactly what I was in that moment.

My arms curled defensively around my chest as a pitiful defense against his approaching form, but they seemed to do more than just shift skin and fat around; as I could hear the ever so quiet noise of Lee's picture crinkling underneath one of my breasts. Not only that, but there was an oddly solid object poking into one of my arms...

Jane's item! I wasn't sure of what it was, but my mind latched onto it as a possible last moment defensive weapon. It didn't matter if it was something as insignificant as a plastic spoon; I was not going down without a fight!

The sound of someone knocking on the door brought the both of us to a halt, my hand pausing in its trail under my shirt and him halting a number of steps away from me. Carver remained silent this time around, possibly even hoping that if he didn't answer that the person on the other end of the door would simply leave if they didn't get some kind of response. That possible idea of his ended up fruitless; as the person simply knocked again - this time more insistently. Whether the person realised it or not, they had truly saved my hide.

"...Who is it?" Carver asked, his voice tinged with a clear heavy dose of irritation. As much as I originally thought that I couldn't have cared less about who it was behind that door, I got proven wrong when the person took the question as permission to enter the room, swinging the door open with reckless abandon to show Troy.

"There's a fight going on in the yard; Luke and Nick are tussling with the old bastard with the beard" Troy gruffly gave an explanation for why he was back so soon, jabbing with his thumb in the general direction of where the yard was. Seeing as the act of 'disciplining people' often fell down to Carver, the leader knew that he couldn't let it go without handling it... But boy, did he look pissed as all hell that they had chosen _now_ of all times to have a round of rough housing between the three of them. "Do you want me to handle it?"

"Get out of my way" Came Carver's answer, his teeth so tightly clenched together that it was a wonder that we couldn't hear them grinding against one another. Troy obediently shifted to the side, but purposefully didn't decide to follow after Carver once he left the office, the latter storming down the staircase with the same amount of noise that I had made when ascending it.

 _"I'll never complain about Kenny, Luke and Nick being so argumentative ever again"_ I silently swore that promise to myself as my eyes closed for a brief moment, thanking the universe for their phenomenal timing. When I dared to open my eyes again, I was relieved to see that Troy was still there; him looking at me with a worried glance. "...Were they really getting into it with each other?"

"Don't know; I didn't stick around to get a better look" His words seemed to imply that the very moment he had seen the fighting going on he did nothing else except for immediately bolt for the office; implying that he made careful use of it to get Carver away from me. Before long his brown eyes swept over my face - I could imagine that it was because my face was incredibly blanched out of sheer terror - taking a number of steps closer until he could stand securely by my side. "...Did he hurt you?"

Answering that was incredibly difficult, as somehow admitting how close Carver had gotten to... Doing something to do would only cement it in my mind. Not only that, but it likely meant that Troy had been waiting at the bottom of the stairs and heard pretty much everything that had been said to me.

Quite contrary to what I would have recognised from him in his original universe, Troy bent down so that he was kneeling beside the chair rather than standing next to it; understanding that towering over me would be too similar to what had just happened. It was... An extremely gentle and caring gesture.

"...Nearly" I finally managed to find my words after I took some time to compose myself, and even then it required more effort to not burst into tears to talk about it. "...You shouldn't have left"

"I'm sorry" He sounded genuinely sincere in that remark. The tone of his voice was just as complicated as his facial features had been, with several bits of emotion mingled into each other to make a strange cocktail that someone would have to decipher in order to understand the intent behind his words. This time, I could pick out the regret - he hadn't wanted to leave in the first place after all - combined with the fact that he understood that it was now too late to undo that decision... And he hated the result it left him with. "I promise that I won't leave you with him alone again"

"He'll probably shoot you" It was a depressing thing to accept that he likely wouldn't be able to keep his promise, but he sounded more confident than ever before; and I really needed to hear his confidence in that moment.

"Then he's going to have to do that; I'm not leaving this office without you" One of Troy's hands came up to gently grasp mine, peeling it just a bit away from my chest so that he could hold it more securely. While I doubted that he really would be able to do that, I held tight onto that hand... Wanting it to come true more than anything else.

The moment we could hear the sounds of someone thundering up the staircase again we softly let go of each other’s hands, and he ended up rising from his kneeling position so that we wouldn't look terribly out of place there. We were surprised to suddenly hear that same person coming up the stairs to come to a sudden halt before we could see them through the door, taking several deep breaths in to calm themselves from their rage filled state. I had the heavy suspicion that it was Carver placing another kind of personality onto his face, one that wouldn't give anyone the impression that he wasn't in control... And it seemed that I was right; as he soon came through the door of the office with what seemed to be a neutral expression.

"That's funny, they weren't going that much at it" His actual words seemed to spell out another story than his face told, as his sentence and tone almost seemed to imply that he wanted Troy to justify himself. If Troy had been afraid earlier in the day to answer to Carver when he was upset, he didn't seem to be any more; keeping his stance completely still and answering him matter-of-factly. "Not even a bruised lip or a black eye in sight"

"My apologies, I'll have a closer look next time before coming to get you" Troy answered him, but didn't make a move to leave the office. Carver grunted in response, but also remained stationary... As though the two of them were waiting for the other to do something first.

"That will be all" Carver attempted to dismiss him yet again, but this time Troy didn't answer him at all. That clearly didn't sit well with the leader, returning to his glowering look - which also seemed to fail to make his second in command leave. Even worse, Troy was still holding his assault rifle in his hands - his fingers tapping close to the trigger in a warning gesture.

Saved by the bell yet again, the walkie-talkie on Carver's body sprung to life with someone asking for him, proving that the majority of the people in his compound truly did not feel comfortable with doing anything without getting his express permission in advance (quite the opposite to mine, I observed keenly). If he ignored it for long people would undoubtedly get antsy and decide to come find him themselves, leading them right towards the office because it was known to be the place that he remained... And while he might have been a megalomaniac and psychopath in several regards, it appeared to be that an exhibitionist was not one of them - and that was not even taking into account the fact that the people following him thought that he was a good man, which would immediately get proven wrong the moment they stumbled onto him assaulting a young woman.

"Carver?" The walkie-talkie asked for him by name twice by then, clearly wondering what was taking him so long in responding. He didn't bother hiding his contempt the second time around, grumpily picking up the device and stalking out of the office with it.

We waited about a minute after we heard him going down that staircase a second time, before Troy shifted over slightly to place his hand underneath one of my elbows in an upwards gesture. I understood what he was requesting of me; standing up out of that office chair and gladly leaving that office door. Even just waiting a little bit for Troy to shut the door after us felt agonising, but before I knew it he was done and we went down the stairs together.

"We're nearing the end of the day as it is, so we'll probably get away with putting you back in your shelve square" Troy explained, gently gesturing off to my right once we were back on the ground floor. It only gave me a certain amount of time before the next day would come around and I would have to deal with the same problems yet again, but the idea of putting that responsibility off for a couple of hours sounded heavenly.

"I'd honestly love nothing more than conking off to sleep right now" I admitted, feeling entirely drained from just that small amount of time I spent in that office. Running around the entire day was far better than that; something which Troy agreed with a meagre sympathetic laugh. Allowing him to shift the shelving open so that we were able to slip back into that semi-secure feeling sleeping area without much trouble, except for the fact that I couldn't spy my kind guard sticking around to keep an eye over me when I let the sandman come visit. "Oh. Is Vince coming around later today to keep watch over me again?"

"Not tonight, he's guarding the door to the yard" Troy gave that bit of bad news, but luckily he seemed to have good news for me before my face could fall. "But in replacement, I was put on guard for you. I've got one or two things to do around the place, but I can ask Vince to keep an eye out for Carver while I am gone so that he can't sneak in here while I am gone"

"I'd... I'd love that" While I briefly considered whether there was a better word for it considering his aromanticism, it truly was the right kind of word for how I felt about it. Troy completely understood, nodding his head with another mysterious smile, although this one was much easier to decipher. He didn't fully understand the feelings himself based on descriptions, but he understood that those kinds of feelings meant a lot to others.

"I'll be back in about an hour" All too soon, he had to finish off his final duties. Perhaps he'd hurry them up a little so that he was back in record time, but it still felt like it would take far too long in that moment of time.

"Do you promise?" As much as I may have thought it was cowardly to do in the past, I felt that my sentence had quite a heavy tone of begging to it; _needing_ someone that I trusted keeping me safe overnight. He paused in his movement to leave the square, smiling at me in a tender way that showed that he felt some kind of respect and concern for me.

"I promise" He guaranteed it, gently shutting the shelves shut as he left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Macademias to make up for the upsetting chapter;
> 
> https://imgflip.com/i/4cvnc2  
> https://imgflip.com/i/4cvnce  
> https://imgflip.com/i/4cvndr  
> https://imgflip.com/i/4cvneo


	30. Shield Us Against Evil

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning; descriptions of traumatic injuries. Please be aware if these themes concern you in any manner

With some time to while away, I found my hands picking up the bible still neatly tucked underneath my stretcher and began to read it. The actual contents didn't really seem to strike a chord within me, but it did make me think about why some people flocked to religion. Perhaps it came from the desire to have something to believe in; the idea that no matter how badly some things went, that everything was going to end up alright if you held true to yourself and your beliefs. While I couldn't sympathise with the idea of following an entity, I could understand the feeling of the latter quite well.

 _Creak._ At one point I heard the shelving unit open ever so slightly, bringing me out of the thoughts of how spirituality worked. Relieved that it wasn't Carver - I couldn't imagine him doing it so softly; he was more likely to barge in without a single thought for other people's wellbeing - I raised my head to greet whoever it was, but they hurriedly shut the shelving unit just as quickly once they saw my head move. Considering that they likely were peeking in out of curiosity of who I was, I kept staring at that spot in the shelving unit... And that attention was rewarded when the person shifted the door open a couple of seconds later.

"Oh!" They seemed to be surprised by my forwardness, and their voice slipped out without meaning to. Even if I couldn't have spotted her tinted skin and familiar black hair, I like to have thought that I would recognise Becca - Shel's little sister - just from her voice alone. "...Well, I guess there's no point in hiding anymore"

She invited herself inside my private square, slinking in as though she wasn't really supposed to be there. Considering how dark it was getting, it wouldn't have surprised me if the latter fact was true in all regards.

"Hello Becca" I greeted her civilly, but she didn't seem very impressed when I called her directly by her name.

"That's weird" She was refreshingly honest about how she felt, which did seem like a genuine response to such a strange phenomenon. Although, she wasn't nearly as resistant as I would have expected her to have been, as her frown easily melted away into a more neutral expression. "Shel told me about you, that you smuggled something special off to Mike"

"It was my pleasure; Mike and Shel are both great people" The more we seemed to exchange words the brighter Becca's face seemed to look; as I would almost say that she had something close to a genuine smile once I referred to her sister and the man she loved. That wasn't the only thing we seemed to agree on, as when I glanced up at the glass window of the supervisors room I could spy her smile changing to a grimace to match mine. "Now, if only I could say that about everyone"

"Yeah" Even if so quietly, she agreed with me. Becca may have disagreed with her sister in the game when it came to leaving Roland's camp from the DLC, but I certainly hoped she had wised up quite a bit - regardless of whether it came from her growing age or the sheer fact that the game was not putting limits on how she developed. Carver was never going to be in her good graces after what he pulled, which was great to hear.

Speaking of the devil however, we could clearly see that the lights in his office were still on; them looking far too bright than I would have liked in the dark hardware store... I could only hope that Troy was wrapping up whatever he was doing by then.

"Vince" The sound of Carver coming down the stairs were overshadowed by the sound of his gravelly voice, it sending a wave of uncomfortable feelings washing over my body. Becca had a similar reaction, hurriedly ducking down underneath my stretcher as a last ditch effort in case Carver decided to poke his head into the shelving square; she likely was not allowed to be out so late anyway. "Any problems so far?"

"The occasional argument, but nothing really that bad" Vince calmly answered him, but something else drew my attention away when my head leaned back ever so slightly. For some particular reason, the lights in Carver's office were still on, and he didn't strike me as someone who wasted energy if he could help it. "Is something watching over the prisoner tonight?"

 _The prisoner._ They never used such a title when directly speaking to me (except for Russel in the beginning), but it certainly did feel like they were putting on a particular different mask when talking to Carver or I. The only important thing was, which of their personalities was the fake one to cover for the other?

"Troy is, so you can focus on keeping the people in the yard under a watchful eye" Carver also seemed to know who was stationed to watch over me, but it was odd that I couldn't hear any sign of frustration in the back of his voice. Wouldn't Troy's name bring up irritating thoughts of the guard standing in his not an hour before? "He's already with her now"

...That, was the oddest thing of all. No matter how hard we could look around - even Becca glanced around to see if she somehow missed him somewhere - Troy was not in the shelving square with me. Furthermore, how would someone know that without looking themselves?

"Oh, alright" Vince, while sounding somewhat sceptical before, didn't seem to flinch once he heard that Troy was supposedly with me. It was quite the easy thing to believe, considering the fact the two of us had been seen everywhere with one another the entire day. "Goodnight sir"

Carver didn't respond to Vince's well wishes, instead sounding like he turned his back on the guard and was heading over to the shelving square. His footsteps sounded loud and eerie with each passing moment, closer to some sort of horrific monster than a human (not that I would blame anyone for assuming that he was the former). More worried about poor Becca being found underneath my stretcher than for myself in that moment, I purposely hung my legs over the side in a way that she could possibly be hidden behind them in case Carver was coming along to personally check up on me.

True to what I had expected, Carver did stop momentarily outside of the sleeping area; perhaps waiting and listening intently so that he could pick out any voices. Both of us girls remained quiet, hoping that he would guess that I was asleep... And it seemed that we got our wish, as Carver released a weary, incredibly tired sigh, before leaving with the same horrifying footsteps.

Once I could make out the sound of him shutting a door on the other side of the hardware store, my eyes instantly snapped over to the glass window overlooking the hardware store. It still showed an incredibly bright light emanating from it, acting as an irritatingly intrusive beam directly into my eyes. Forget the fact that it would have been difficult to fall asleep with such a massive source of light, there was a sinking feeling in my heart when I combined several little clues together.

"...Becca, would you please do me a favour?" I softly asked the teenager as she crawled out from underneath my stretcher, and instantly her face was morphing back to that frown on her face. Asking her for help was risky, but I needed to leave that shelving square, which was going to be impossible to do without her.

"Why?" She sceptically asked, and my finger instantly pointed up to the office above me. Becca could clearly see what my eyes had uncovered, but she hadn't linked together the different clues.

"Carver said that Troy was in here, but he's clearly not. We could assume that Carver guessed that Troy was in here, but I doubt someone so meticulous as him would skip the important task of checking for himself" I started to list the different things I had picked up, and slowly I could see the look in her eyes change to reflect her uncovering the same assumption that I had.

"You think Troy is in the office?" Becca inquired, to which I found it quite easy to agree with. But even if we were on the same page in terms of 'why do you need help?', there was another important why still not uncovered; 'why do you want to go to Troy?'.

"I... I care about him" There was no other way around it; I cared deeply about him by that point. Even if he and I only helped each other out for a single day, there was something there with him that I couldn't betray... Not after everything he had done for me in return.

Becca stared at me with an unbelieving look for a long time, as she clearly had a different impression of the man - as an irritable man who didn't seem to care much for anyone beyond himself - but I wasn't giving up. If there was one benefit to her being impatient as a teenager, it was that she didn't take long to make up her mind.

"Agh, fine! But you better take special care of my sister and Mike if they need it!" She huffed, throwing up her hands childishly. Part of me wondered whether I was going to deal with such a phase with Clementine or Duck when they aged into teenagers, but that was a thought for another time. "What do you need me to do?"

"If you could distract Vince for me, that will be enough" I assured her that I wouldn't need anything outlandish from her, and she looked far more relieved once she heard that. Quietly shifting open the shelving unit to let her out first, I waited in the shadows for them to start talking.

The two of them began to speak quietly to each other - it seemed that Vince got along with her far better than Troy would have - with the typical questions of why she was up naturally being Vince's first words. Becca purposefully didn't answer his question why, instead starting to talk about different things that would inevitably lead to long winded conversations.

"Did you see the cows today? There were two wandering in between the lurkers out the front of our compound"

"Cows?! Don't be ridiculous, I doubt they would have survived this long"

My own feet barely made a sound compared to their chatting voices, and my boots were able to carry me through the dark off to the side of the building without either person stopping me. Coming to those stairs yet again left me with a similar feeling of dread as one hour before that moment... But I had to power through it.

Taking special care to not let my feet drag over the floor, I placed my feet one after another up those stairs. While I still was making some noise, there was no indication from Vince that he had heard me.

At the door once again, my hand clasped around the cold handle and realised that it was wet. It was as if someone had hurriedly washed their hands and hadn't bothered to dry them before touching it, but it didn't dissuade me from turning the knob.

 _"You're just going to have a quick look"_ I tried to assure myself that everything was going to be fine, but the butterflies in my stomach were leaning in the opposite direction. " _Carver was probably just super pissed that his 'special time' got interrupted, and subsequently forgot to turn a light off, that's it"_

The door opened with a _creak,_ showing... A complete bloodbath. All around the office were large rivulets of blood, splattered like ripped apart ribbons decorating the muted colours. In fact, the exact reason why I hadn't seen it from the ground floor was because there was a single blackboard wheeled right behind the man sitting in the well-known torture chair, taking up the majority of the splatter.

My eyes couldn't help but stare at the injuries first before I glanced at their face, as they were just... Horrific to take in. The persons left leg had been purposefully placed onto a nearby chair, but just so that their foot was able to be twisted in the complete wrong direction; dislocating their ankle to such a degree that I wondered if anyone could really put it back correctly. A similar treatment had been done to the right leg, with the pant leg rolled high enough to show the knee jutting out to the left instead of straight.

It didn't get any better in terms of their arms, with their forearms having several deep slices into them alongside a knife that had been stabbed into the left bicep. Their hands didn't even need to be tied down with zip ties, as every single finger looked like they had been dislocated in every single direction; Carlos' punishment, but magnified to a far higher degree.

As I stumbled a little from the shock of seeing that, my foot connected against some kind of metal bucket left near the door. Inside that very same bucket was a murky red colour, undoubtedly been used to wash the blood from his hands - literally in this sense - in order to appear like nothing had ever happened. That bucket proved a very serious fact about that room; this torture clearly was premeditated.

"Hm?!" The person in the chair clearly had been roused from a state of unconsciousness, as my boot touching the metal was enough to make a loud _clang!,_ shocking them enough to raise their pain ridden head. And it was none other than Troy, my eyes being unable to avoid that truth any longer.

"Troy! Oh my god, this is..." There weren't enough words to describe the amount of disgust and horror I felt looking at him, and it was already quite the task to overpower my fear of hurting him to get closer to him.

My closer proximity told me why I hadn't managed to hear him all that time, as there was a hefty piece of cloth that had been tied several times around his mouth until he words were nothing more than a muffled grunt. The cloth was doused in blood as well, but just as I thought that the blood may have been from the injuries on his arms, I only had to glance a little bit upward to see that he was bleeding directly from his left eye.

He was in such a beat up state that I knew he would die from blood loss if I did nothing, my hands reaching out to tug at the zip ties keeping his hands to the chair. Even with the cloth covering his mouth I could audibly hear him release a hefty scream the moment I shifted his injured arms, and all I could do was apologise softly as I kept working.

My mind drifted to Jane's item still attached to my chest, and I decided that it was best to find out what it was after all. It dropped into my hand, its sleek wooden polish looking quite splendid against the blade within; it was an old fashioned razor. The moment Troy saw the blade flick out, he understandably freaked out a little from how sharp it looked - his left eye remaining closed for some odd reason - but I had to use it to free him.

"It's alright, I'm only going to use it on your bindings" Proving my words to be nothing but the truth, I carefully used it to cut away the zip ties keeping his hands stuck to the chair, then placing the razor back where I had retrieved it from. Even with those gone, it was clear from both of his legs that he wasn't going to be getting himself down the stairs, so it fell to me. "I'm going to have to carry you Troy; I'm sorry in advance for any pain I might cause while carrying you"

Having to tug on his arms to pull his chest over my shoulders, I struggled to stand up properly with his entire weight on my shoulders. Even with the assistance of the fireman’s lift - the most uncomfortable lift for the poor person being carried - it still felt like I was trying to shift an entire mountain with just my shoulders.

"Hm! Hm!" Troy still let out loud noises that I could only assume were made out of pain from the sudden movements, but I didn't dare put him down lest I not have the energy to be able to lift him up again.

"I know; I'm sorry!" I struggled to simply rotate in one spot, so that I would be able to step forward and out of the door. Something on the edge of Carver's desk caught my attention, but I quickly wished that I hadn't looked once I could tell what it was; Troy's left eye. "...Alright, down those stairs we go"

It felt like I was going to slip over at any second while I stepped down them; my feet thundering down them in comparison to how I went up them. There was no way that Vince was going to miss me this time, but that was going to happen regardless of how loudly I went down.

"What is that noise?" Vince asked that to nobody in particular, but he got a clear answer when I finally reached the ground floor, stumbling over to him. Becca looked absolutely frightened by what she saw, and I was merciful to her in the sense that I hurriedly gestured with my chin; telling her that she was allowed to leave. "Primrose?! What happened to- I mean, what the hell is wrong with-

"Let me through; I need to take Troy to Carlos and Katjaa in the yard!" I ordered him without care for the fact that he was not someone to listen to me just yet. He didn't move a single muscle, as though his feet were trapped in cement. Yelling at him really felt like it was going to cathartic considering the literal weight on my shoulders, but I hoped that I could rely on pleading with him like I had earlier in the day. "Vince, please!"

My voice clearly portrayed the absolute desperation of the situation, and he seemed to cave in quite easily after that. With a new sense of hurry in his own movements mirroring mine, he stepped aside and rolled the shutter door up that was separating us from the yard.

The soft glow of the fire crackling in the middle of that massive group of people seemed to be a god send in comparison to Carver's office, and my relief only seemed to grow when the faces turning to look at us were all familiar to me.

"Oh my god!" Ben was the first one to notice the injured party slung over my shoulder, which started the inevitable tidal wave of questions that I had expected to come from them. In their shoes, I too would have been full of questions.

"Mum!"

"Sarah, Clementine, stay back!" Carlos dutifully kept the two younger girls away, but Clementine honestly looked like she was considering biting his hand to get past him to me.

"Carlos, Katjaa!" I called for both medical experts to come forward, stumbling forward with Troy still slung over my shoulders. It didn't take long for Nick, Luke and Mark to hurry forward and take the injured guard from me; it was in fact something I relied on. "Be careful with him, he's got a lot of sensitive injuries"

"What about you?! You're covered in blood!" Christa worriedly pointed to one of my shoulders, causing my head to naturally turn with it to see what she was referring to. My shoulder was indeed soaked in blood by that point, but there was no injury to be seen; it all came from Troy.

"That's not my blood" As much as it felt extremely eerie to say so, I didn't want them to pay any unneeded energy on me when they could be helping Troy. I was going to step forward to assist the two people working on Troy, when I felt a hand clasp my shoulder.

Vince was the one stopping me, clearly spotting a problem if I remained with the others in the yard. My heart wanted me to remain with them, but my mind could notice the same issue; if Carver found out that I brought Troy to the yard... Then there would be hell to pay.

"We need to get you back to your sleeping quarters, right now" Vince sounded genuinely frightened of what might happen, now that he had first-hand experience on what could happen. After all, if Troy wasn't safe from his wrath, then _nobody_ would be safe.

"Wait! What even happened?!" Alvin asked us as we began to retreat back into the main building, as to them it would have seemed like we were a bunch of whirlwinds storming in and out without much explanation. "Who even did this to Troy?!"

"Do I honestly need to spell it out for you?" I pointedly asked him, as he darn well knew who would have done something this vile. Frankly, he was lucky that he wasn't in the very same position. "I need to go back before anyone sees that I'm missing, otherwise Carver might do worse"

"What could he do that would be worse than _that_?!" Omid couldn't believe that there was something worse, but my face fell quite quickly. His question brought up the thoughts of what had nearly happened in the office... And from the horrified look in Rebecca's eyes behind him, she was able to predict what I was thinking about with disturbing accuracy.

"Oh, Primrose..." Rebecca whispered my name, likely not wanting to startle me if she could help it. It seemed like part of her wanted to ask if she was correct, but she equally knew that it was never something pleasant to think about - let alone talk about it. "Honey..."

"Primrose" Vince's single word felt like an icy wave running over my spine. I wanted nothing more than to be with them, to sink into their loving arms and let all other thoughts drift away... But Vince was right; we needed to leave. He would need to clean my clothing to remove the blood that was soaked in, so he would need as much time as we could manage.

"...I'll see you guys tomorrow" I tried my best to end the conversation there, turning around and walking underneath that shutter door. Vince was right behind me, and this time I was not going to let anything separate me and my new guard, lest something happen to him as well.

"Vince!"

He stopped at the sound of his younger brother calling for him - he still cared about him even if their tempers gave the impression otherwise - and I did so too out of habit. We turned our heads as a duo to look back at Glenn, who had stepped forward to capture our attention. He had nothing beyond saying a few words, but they certainly packed a punch.

"Take care of Prim for me" Glenn begged his brother to watch over me, putting aside their feud for a moment in order to take care of me. My heart felt that familiar tinge of comfort with his caring nature, and I was even more pleased when I heard the assurance coming from the man standing beside me.

"With my life" Vince promised him, his hand reaching over to the shutter doors as his final goodbye.

The door rumbled shut, but we could hear the hurried talking happening out in the yard. The entire group out there now had an important task to get to - saving Troy's life - so our short goodbye didn't have long to linger in their minds, or in mine.

Glancing over to Vince, the very last thing that seemed to be on his mind seemed to be guarding the shutter door like he had been instructed to do. When he and I locked gazes, there was a comforting sense of comradery that bound us together. If there was one benefit to be found in that horrific situation, then it certainly was that I had Vince on my side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry everyone, no memes today! But I do have good news (for those who would enjoy my side project anyway), as I am considering an extra addition to the Blue Comet series/Short But Lemony Sweet, lovingly named 'Brilliant Blue'.  
> It is going to be one entire book filled to the brim with possible 18+ encounters between characters within the Walking Dead Telltale series (and Prim, should people want that!). That way, people can find all those moments together if they really want them, or avoid them if it's really not their cup of tea.  
> Everyone excited? If not, that's perfectly fine, at least I'm excited! :D  
> And now, for a number of ground rules that I think will be important;
> 
> If Prim is requested in some of the pairings, I would prefer that you pick a moment during the story where it might be logical that she would have this moment with said partner.  
> Example; Prim and Kenny having a moment together during the three months at the motel in season one.  
> Reasoning; I think it would flow much better with the main story and add a little nice spice >:3
> 
> No characters being paired together that do not match up in terms of sexuality/romantic interest or monogamous interests.  
> Example; No Alvin x Luke or Katjaa x Sarita  
> Reasoning; I just think it would be really rude to write a character with a particular sexuality and then go against it simply for a sexual encounter in another book.
> 
> No pairings that involve parental figures or familial relation.  
> Example; No Clementine with Prim or Vince with Glenn.  
> Reasoning; *Scottish accent* DISGUSTANG!
> 
> If specific kinks are asked (and you are more than willing to request that) then keep in mind I may be a bit rusty writing it if it isn't something I've heard of before. Also, absolutely no rape kinks.  
> Example; Praise kink with Prim and Nick would be alright.  
> Reasoning; I may be a kinky bitch, but I don't know everything.
> 
> Alternate universe requests are allowed, but nothing too extensive.  
> Example; Coffee shop AU is all fine, but no Superhero AU with a whole bunch of backstory.  
> Reasoning; I'm trying to keep them to one chapter per interaction.
> 
> You may request only one thing at a time.  
> Example; Asking for one thing - I complete it - and then you politely ask for another one afterwards.  
> Reasoning; I don't want to get swamped ;_;
> 
> And that's pretty much all I can think of for now! Let me know what you think, and I look forward to your answers regardless of what they may be :3


	31. Blood of the Covenant

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning; Descriptions of injuries and discussions of Rape. Please be aware of these themes if they concern you in any manner.

The entire night, I did nothing but turn restlessly in my sleep. Occasionally when I did awake from the uncomfortable state of slumber, I would quietly lie there in the dark and think about what was coming.

So many things could go wrong. Even if Troy managed to survive the amount of blood he had lost, what if waiting until the morning was going to be a mistake? Waiting for him to recover a bit certainly meant that we wouldn't have to leave him behind... But what if that patience would cost someone else their lives? How long until Carver would lose his temper yet again, considering how even the slightest resistance seemed to earn his ire?

The second time I awoke, I could hear the gentle sounds of splashing. Vince was doing his best to clean my jacket and shirt, and seemingly picking the time when he thought I wouldn't be disturbed. Although it didn't feel like much, the sheer concern he held for me gave me a warm feeling, which meant that slipping back to sleep was that much easier.

With that intermittent amount of sleep that I had gotten, the following morning felt like it had come along at light speed compared to the previous night. I was long awake even before Vince had to reach out with his hand to rouse me again, and the feeling of exhaustion was beginning to sink in.

Sitting up on the stretcher, I wondered just how alike Vince and I looked to each other; with haggard, bag-ridden eyes and the kind of lethargic fear in our eyes that felt like a sickness spreading between us.

"Here" Vince offered my shirt and jacket to me, his head turned away so that he wouldn't see my bra when I dropped my thin sheet from my chest. It likely was an ingrained habit of his to do that anyway simply because his asexual nature didn't endear him to ogling someone in any form, but I still appreciated the sentiment as if it was nothing more than him being polite. "It may be a bit wet still"

I couldn't seem to muster much energy to say anything to him, but I managed to hum a thankful note as I took the clothing from his hands. True to what he had described, it was damp in my hands, but that didn't bother me nearly as much. The seeped in red colour had left it, and I far preferred the idea of being fully clothed the next time I was forced to be around Carver.

The clothing was just barely on my body when someone came knocking on the shelving square. Vince looked like he was going to make good on his promise to protect me with his life if the person coming through was Carver, his eyes narrowing and his mouth curling into a snarl at the very same time that his hands touched the weapon within his hands. Fortunately for him - and likely the person entering as well - they decided to poke their head in, showing their bright ginger hair before anything else.

"Thank god, you're both awake already" Bonnie had seemingly expected us to both be asleep when she knocked, as she seemed far more relieved that our quietness was simply due to lack of words instead. "Carver called the morning meeting early for some reason, and he looks really upset about something"

Vince's eyes immediately looked to me once he heard that, meeting mine quite quickly. We knew all too well just how upset he was; but there was the hope in the back of my mind that he would be able to keep that at bay for just a bit longer. If we had another day to properly plan an escape route - one that didn't involve drawing the encroaching horde of walkers to us in fear of hurting Carlos and Nick - then that was all that we would need.

"Wait, weren't you supposed to be watching over the yard?" Wyatt asked Vince the moment my guard and I left the sleeping area, seeing that all four other people had arrived as usual. Shel looked... Very disturbed by something, and I had a strong inkling that her sister might have let something slip about what she had seen the previous night. She wasn't completely sure whether Becca had mistaken things in the dark, but she wanted to see it for herself; as of course Troy had always been seen around us before.

"Come along, the day is still young" Vince didn't get a chance to explain himself, as an eerie voice drew us to the shut roller doors standing by the yard. Carver had slipped a different mask onto his face yet again, one that he had tried and failed to wear the day before when he had returned to his office with myself and Troy in it; a calm look that would send shivers up anyone's spine. I sincerely regretted ever thinking that he and I were similar in terms of wearing masks around others, as he clearly was closer to a psychopathy than I would ever reach at my worst.

Purposefully pulling on Vince's sleeve so that he and I were the furthest away from him as we could manage, we came to stand beside Carver at the doors. Russel went directly the opposite towards us so that his hands reached for the chain that would raise it, but his fingers didn't quite reach to the metal before he realised that we were missing someone.

"...Wait, where's Troy?" He seemed to be asking me quite specifically, leaning backwards ever so slightly so that he was able to see past Carver's hood until he met my gaze. Unlike everything that he and the other five had seen of yesterday, Troy was no longer protectively guarding me anymore.

"You'll see soon enough" Even as simple a movement such as sliding backwards seemed to become far more intimidating once it was done by Carver, who moved purposefully in the way so that Russel was forced to look at him. Along with that movement was the... Perfectly casual remark that he made about the missing guard, but it was precisely the nonchalant manner that made it sinister in every manner.

Russel and the others waited patiently to see whether he was going to elaborate more on what he meant, but only stony silence met them in response. With nothing more to really do, Russel decided to get on with it; pulling those doors open with a steady rumble.

The sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon, so there was no real harsh glare to block my view from the people I loved. Some rare few still seemed to be awake (Carlos due to his insomnia, and I could imagine that the tired look in Carley's eyes was from her keeping watch over the night with him), but the heavy metal doors opening acted as their own form of alarm for anyone who hadn't woken up with the peeking sun's rays. I wouldn't admit it aloud because of the tension between both groups, but there was one person that I was keeping my eyes out for... And I couldn't see him yet.

As much as I had gotten the impression that Carley and Carlos were the only ones to look drained from the night before, it wasn't just them; that very same dampened look being worn by many others in my group. It took them far longer to wake up than I could remember them needing in the past - Lilly even looked like she was considering rolling back over when Matthew lightly kicked her in one shoulder - and even then it only appeared as if they hurried up when Carver decided that they were testing his patience.

"The day is young everyone; we wouldn't want to waste it wallowing in bed" Carver ordered them to get up, and Kenny responded in kind to his rudeness by glaring and muttering under his breath. Even so, the others did get up; albeit very slowly. Just how long had they all been working on the injured person I had brought to them?

Eventually my worst fears were allayed when my attention shifted over to Luke and Nick lingering near the back of the multitude of people. They were crouching over one of the few beds that directly left the person on the ground, before slinging two arms over their shoulders from that very same person in the bed. The very moment I could see those arms properly I already knew that it had to be him; there was absolutely no part of his arms that wasn't covered in bandages, and those seemed to creep down even further to protect the painfully, bright red swollen fingers. He didn't seem to dare to move any part of his hands, as they still hadn't healed very much even after Carlos and Katjaa had shifted them back to their original positions.

Far beyond just lingering at the back of the pack, Luke and Nick hauled Troy to his feet despite his likely still injured legs, and the people standing in front of them - Mike and Jane respectively - parted to make room for them to show exactly what had happened to him.

Shel was the first one to notice; her loudly gasping in fright when she saw Troy get hauled forward to the front of the pack. Becca hadn't been lying to her, as he still slumped over despite both men's monumental effort to get him to stand upright. In fact, I had the heavy suspicion that if it _weren't_ for the two standing beside him, Troy would have collapsed to the ground the moment he attempted to use either of his realigned legs. Just as I begun to wander why he even had enough blood to look somewhat coherent, I could spy the little cotton-ball tied to the inside of one of Nick's wrists; showing that he had been giving the other some of his instead. The others joining with Shel grimaced the longer they took in the injuries on Troy's body, likely looking extremely similar to how I had when I had to rescue him from that chair in the office.

"Troy?!" Wyatt couldn't keep silent, asking the other guard whether it was truly him in that state. Troy's single working eye quickly spun to the side so that it was staring directly at Carver, trying to tell the other without words why he was there. The four of them who hadn't been present when I stumbled down the stairs followed his gaze directly over to Carver's face... But it freaked them out just as much to see that Carver wasn't looking at all worried. In fact, their leader looked positively pleased with himself.

"Late yesterday evening, Troy had the gall to steal precious cargo from me" Carver seemed to nearly hum in merriment when he explained why Troy was in the state he was, and his words made me want to vomit in disgust. To the untrained ear it would sound like he was referring to something mundane and commonly occurring in the new world - someone stealing supplies, that is - but to me it sounded suspiciously like he was referring to _me_ in terms of 'precious cargo'. "After punishing him appropriately, I ensured that he was brought to the yard to wallow in the muck with the other prisoners"

He was lying plain and simple in the latter half, something that Vince, myself and everyone within the yard could tell from the moment those words slipped from his lips. I only had to use my peripheral vision to see that it was a test; as his eyes were carefully watching me out of the corner of my eye. Carver likely had a guess as to who had taken Troy out of his office, but had no concrete proof of who it was. Throwing around random accusations of people sneaking around the compound behind his back would make him look exceedingly paranoid (well, more than he already did, I suppose), so he blurted that out in the hopes of catching me out.

I fastidiously ignored his comment, my eyes continuing to stare blankly at my people. He likely had picked up from my lacklustre response that I already knew this was going to happen - whether it came from guessing due to my knowledge or because I _had_ been the one to bring him to the two medical experts - but he didn't have enough to claim that I had done anything. With that option exhausted to him, he instead went for what seemed to be his next favourite thing; tormenting those that I cared about.

"Do you have anything to say for yourself Troy?" Carver merrily asked the injured guard as he advanced towards the trio of men, with Luke and Nick frankly looking like they wanted to take a step back to keep their distance.

Troy likely could have denied his claims of stealing, but he remained quiet as his single eye chose to look at something else. Why he did so was hard for me to understand, but there also was the possibility swirling in the back of my mind that Carver had threatened him during the torture that if he told anyone the truth that there would be severe consequences. It was a common tactic for abusers to do so, something that I easily imagined that he might have told me if he hadn't been interrupted by Troy... And now he was effectively taking out his frustration on the guard.

"Look at me when I'm speaking to you" Carver didn't seem to like the avoiding attitude that Troy was trying to implement, his hand reaching out to snatch the other's chin and yank it upwards until Troy was forced to stare directly at him. The accompanying snarl that came with those words made me feel worried for Troy and uncomfortable in equal amounts, my hands reaching out to curl around Vince's arm while their leader was not looking in our direction. Vince flinched somewhat - he wasn't expecting it - but once he realised it was me, he seemed to relax once again, allowing one of his own hands to cover mine in a tender warm touch. " _Look. At. Me."_

A glimmer of confusion seemed to flit by in Troy's eyes; as he _was_ looking at him after all. It was only after a couple of seconds passed by that he and I seemed to realise what Carver was asking to do, as currently Troy was looking at with only _one_ eye. Mark, who stood nearby to offer support to either of the men supporting him in case they needed a rest from taking on his full weight, honestly was so outraged that his fist curled tightly into a ball; looking like he was considering socking Carver in the face just for suggesting such a thing.

After some minor trepidation, Troy seemed to accept that he wasn't going to be rid of the man holding his bottom jaw until he obliged him. While his left cheek showed obvious flinching from the pain, Troy eventually forced the left eyelid open despite the lack of solid object in it... Showing the bright pink, moist skin behind it. I fully expected there to be more blood after what I had seen of it the previous night, but the reddish tint in the skin came more from the fact that the surrounding tissues were quite swollen from the damage that had been done and nothing more.

"See? Now was that so hard?" Carver took absolute pleasure in seeing him in such a state, removing his hand from his chin to give Troy a none-too-gentle slap on his left cheek; which naturally caused the other to flinch from the sudden pain and shut his left eye from the sudden vibrations near that area. Thankfully Carver was not in the mood to make him open that same eyelid _yet again_ , instead stalking back over to where I stood with the other five guards. My hands had long left Vince's arm before he had turned around, thankfully. "Let this be a lesson to you all. In this community we expect loyalty above all, far beyond anything else. Become one of us and you'll become like family to us all. Betray us, and..."

He didn't even have to finish his sentence by that point; the mere sight of Troy was enough to explain just what he was meaning. Shel, Bonnie and Wyatt looked positively sick by that point, understanding that there was absolutely no redeeming what he had done. Even if his claims had been true - that Troy had been stealing supplies - there were far better ways of handling it than to absolutely mangle a person until they couldn't function. Russel looked... Completely stoic in almost every manner, but his eyes didn't match it; they were absolutely furious.

And that wasn't even considering his odd view of loyalty. While I never wanted to earn the ire of anyone within my group (least of all my lovers or my precious children), I would certainly hope from the bottom of my heart that one of them would have the guts to slap some sense into me the moment they could spy me going down a dark road.

"Vince, organize groups of five or six yet again to get the prisoners to do something" As if things weren't bad enough from his previous speech, when his eyes naturally shifted to look at the man that he was talking to, it meant that he was also looking towards me. The leering and nefarious look in his eyes that soon were directed solely at me, told me that I wasn't going to be considered part of the 'five or six'. "Primrose is going to be accompanying me today"

Despite his injuries, everyone could see the sudden struggle in Troy's movements. He was trying to utilize what little strength he had in his arms to hoist himself up onto his own feet, but the slightest shift of those arms caused what I could only guess was a tidal-wave of pain cascading up his body into his brain. And if the looks in several of my lovers eyes were anything to go by, then they actually were proud of him protesting in his own way.

"Don't move" Luke hurriedly whispered to the man he was supporting, but it was difficult to tell if he was telling him to not get into trouble or simply from the sheer fact that moving caused more pain to himself.

"But-

I made an audible choking noise when someone crept up behind me and hoisted the back of my jacket high up, effectively bringing the collar of the fabric to tighten dangerously around my neck. My hands scrabbled quickly to try and scratch whoever was doing such a thing (I admittedly did think that it was Carver in first instance), but once they spoke the rampant panic spreading through my body seemed to lessen several degrees.

"I need to interrogate the prisoner before you leave with her" Russel spoke as he held tight onto me, but I did admit it was somewhat hilarious when I realised that he had to essentially be standing on tiptoe to even hoist me up; as I was taller than him. His voice perfectly mimicked rage in every manner, so much so that most people would correlate the words 'interrogate' and it together to come to a far more violent conclusion in their minds. With a smirk playing on his lips, Carver seemed to quite like the idea of receiving me possibly bloodied and bruised.

"Go right ahead. In fact, why don't you take the others with you" Carver even endorsed the idea of the other four guards joining him, as he clearly was under the impression that those people hated me from the bottom of their guts. I suppose considering what he had seen himself the previous day of how they had acted when he was around, I guess he truly did think that. Bonnie was the first to hurry after us when Russel started to drag me off with him, but Shel and Wyatt quickly peeled after us before we got too far away from them. It was only when Vince attempted to follow after me that Carver called him back in that same uneasy sing-song voice that he used when we had first encountered him near the Moonstar Lodge. "Ah ah, not you. You and I need to talk Vince"

Said man froze with a very reluctant look on his face, before turning around to talk to Carver near the yard. With only the four others with me, Russel kept dragging me away until he was able to pull me into the shelving square. The very moment we were in there he released my jacket from his grip, and I gratefully rubbed the red mark on my neck that it had made.

"Sorry about manhandling you" Russel apologised immediately, but I waved it off. It likely was his only possible way to get me away from Carver without tripping some kind of paranoid switch in their leader. "What actually happened there? You were around the whole day with Troy and I can't imagine that you would stand by idly by and let him steal something"

"Or remain silent about it" Wyatt also agreed, him being the last to come in after Bonnie and Shel slipped in. After all, he had learned himself when I had persisted with Nick to know the truth that I often spoke my mind... Even if sometimes it was better to hold my tongue.

"Primrose... Be honest with us" Shel begged me to speak the absolute truth to them, as she undoubtedly heard a lot from Becca about things that had happened, but it wasn't enough to get the full picture. Bonnie was silent beside her, looking more concerned for my wellbeing than anything else... I supposed it was time.

"Carver tried to... To rape me yesterday" Just admitting it aloud made my skin crawl, my arms coming up to defensively protect my chest and rub my arms in a soothing motion. Bonnie gasped the moment the 'r' word left my lips, rushing forward and nestling me into her arms. I didn't relax straight away, but there was something about the way she swayed with me and hummed a comforting melody that eased me. "Troy noticed something was wrong, so he interrupted before anything actually happened and refused to leave afterwards. I think that's why Carver was so angry with him, so he decided to punish him for getting in the way of his... 'Conquest'"

"Jesus fucking christ" Wyatt seriously looked like he was considering being sick over the walls of the shelving square, punching one particular location so that he could get some of his built up anger out.

Shel had quite the different reaction to him; as she began to cry quietly in one corner of the square as she carefully put down her weapon. I couldn't tell if it was because of a vivid memory in her own mind, the horror of realising that her little sister really _did_ see something terrible, the sheer realisation that things were worse than she thought they were, or perhaps even a mixture of them all gathered together. Wyatt soon composed himself and moved over to gently check in on her, as he realised that I already was seen to by Bonnie.

Speaking of Bonnie, her humming had reached quite a loud volume. It was as if she believed that the louder she was, the more likely that she was able to block the world out for a moment, so that I wouldn't have to return back there. I didn't think that was a possibility... But it was certainly an enticing thought.

Russel, well, he seemed to understand that things couldn't get much worse than they had gotten. Far from just occasionally following my advice on not bringing people to Carver, he looked ready for war. And thankfully he wasn't the only one; as Bonnie's humming came to a gentle halt, before she carefully took my shoulders in her hands and gave me a determined stare.

"This, is where I draw the line in the sand"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minotaur's!
> 
> https://imgflip.com/i/4ft426  
> https://imgflip.com/i/4ft42v  
> https://imgflip.com/i/4ft440  
> https://imgflip.com/i/4ft44m  
> https://imgflip.com/i/4ft45c
> 
> Also, Brilliant Blue has been launched! If you're interested, please check it out on my profile :3


	32. Clipping Angel Wings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning; Torture and enjoyment of said torture. Please be aware if these themes concern you in any manner.

It seemed as if the universe was stacking up the sheer amount of bad luck in a row (perhaps as payment for being able to arrive there and barely surviving two years ago in Savannah) as long before anyone could sneak me off into their little group of five workers, Carver thrust open the shelving square like I expected him to do. There was no sign of Vince behind him, so I could only hope that Glenn's brother was off doing something innocuous like checking on Troy... And the lingering hope in the back of my mind was supplemented by the meagre wish that he would return speedily to my side.

The air seemed to chill several degrees when he sauntered in, as by then the others flocking me had zero respect for him. Not only that, with Troy as an example to them it was hard to tell how easy it was to set him off into another fit of rage - as claiming that loyalty would defend them from his wrath seemed to be an impossible task by then.

Carver swept his eyes over us, quite clearly seeing the same emotions reflected on them as he had before; a growing unease with Wyatt and Shel, pure rage on Russel's face and utter shock in the final face of Bonnie. He almost seemed disappointed in the fact that he couldn't see obvious damage done to me, but that could easily be swept under the rug with an excuse of him arriving far too soon. What couldn't be discarded as easily however, were his following words.

"Come Primrose" Like commanding an unruly mutt, he beckoned for me to follow behind him with a single finger communicating the 'come hither' gesture. At the same time I couldn't help but imagine a loud church bell ringing over my head, as the saying that Chuck recited certainly seemed applicable at the time... God, I wished that crabby old man was there, even if it had only been to whack my kidnapper over the head with a sturdy shovel. "We have unfinished business, you and I"

"Actually, I really need her in my group. We've got an influx of extra crates, so we need all the hands we can get" Wyatt seemed to come to my aid the fastest - looking like he had to initially suppress the urge to vomit after hearing what Carver had initially said - coming up with a reasonable excuse as to why I couldn't immediately dart off with his leader. No dice however, as Carver didn't find it reason enough.

"Take Tavia with you instead, she likely has more muscle anyway" That was a poor sign for anyone else who would come up with an excuse, as we could see the writing on the wall; Carver had quite the wide array of options to turn down any other excuses coming from those four.

Even with those five on my side, immediately causing a revolt against him would have disastrous consequences. In the best case scenario we would be able to barricade ourselves within the yard against their entire compound of people, but that could only lead to several deaths, numerous injuries and trauma - let alone considering the fact that the gathering horde nearby wouldn't skip over us if we started to make a racket; leaving the very same option of escape as the one from the game, which I wanted to avoid at all costs.

 _"One more day, maybe even just a few hours"_ I placated myself by softly repeating that thought within my mind, combining it with a gentle breath in to remove any trace of nerves from my system. _"The others likely just need a bit more time to plan something coherent, and then you don't need to play pretend anymore"_

That was enough to quell the worries initially bubbling to the surface when looking at that horrid monsters face, allowing me to step forward and follow behind him as if I was finally being the meek version of myself that he had been hoping for. I didn't make it far before Bonnie's grip tightened a fraction around my nearest shoulder - it being a perfect medley of two differing kinds of messages that she wanted to say but was afraid to utter a single syllable of. It was firm enough to clearly beg me not to leave her side, but also soft enough that someone might think that I was the most fragile thing in existence... In that moment, she likely truly believed the latter.

"Let's _go"_ Carver insistently called me yet again, turning around and beginning to walk confidently away from the shelving square. All it took from me was a firm glance to Bonnie's face for her to reluctantly let go, and I most certainly did not miss the way her hand seemed to follow me ever so slightly as I left.

Carver didn't even bother to wait or slow down for me, quickly curving around the store until both he and I were on a beeline towards his office. Had one of my college friends Alex been there, I imagine that he would have made the dirty joke that Troy and I had managed to give Carver a serious case of blue-balls the previous afternoon.

Unfortunately for him, he was going to be experiencing far more of that than he would have liked. Just because I was following him did _not_ mean that I was going to relinquish my body nor soul to him, and the old-fashioned shaving knife lightly pressing into my skin as I ascended those stairs was a good reminder of my plan.

In all intents and purposes, I was planning on murdering Carver in cold blood the moment his grubby hands dared to wander anywhere near me. After slicing his neck open with my blade, I would calmly and calculatingly wait in the office as long as I was could before someone would come check up on where he was - subsequently shooting them in the head with the pistol hidden in Carver's desk if they weren't someone I cared to see - and then launch an escape plan to get my people out whether the rest liked it or not.

There wasn't the slightest hint of doubt in my mind about killing those who stood in my way, quite the contrast to how I had handled the St. John's and the moral quandary about my willingness to kill others that had debilitated me as I left Savannah; as I had frankly killed people for far less in that new world. Survival in that new world meant having to place those dear to you above others, and I would quite happily add Carver's corpse to the growing pile that I left in my wake. _Nobody_ was going to stand in the way of the happy endings that my loved ones deserved.

Carver had slipped a stoic mask onto his face by the time we had reached his door, and so had I; the two of us scrutinizing the other to see any sign of weakness. I didn't see it as a disadvantage when he opened the office door for me, and I walked right on in to both hide my movements and to give the impression that I was being docile with him.

There was a clear frown building on my lips; he hadn't even bothered cleaning up any of the blood spatters lining the blackboard or his walls. In fact, I probably could have spotted the shriveled appearance of Troy's left eye if I had even remotely glanced anywhere near the desk.

"...You know" Carver began one of his goose-bump worthy speeches, the sound of him closing and subsequently locking the door behind him not passing by me at all. Each slow methodical footstep of his seemed like a snail compared to my hand carefully shifting up my hip and under my shirt, feeling the edge of the tape keeping my weapon tightly pressed to my skin. "There was a reason I didn't particularly want you around Troy"

"You sure did a _stellar_ job of keeping him away from me, considering the fact you literally assigned him to me" I couldn't be bothered to hide the animosity in my voice by that point, as his reasoning could never make up for what he had done. Just one more step closer toward me, and I would be in range to whirl around in dig the sharp end of my blade into him.

"See, it was that he has absolutely no restraint whatsoever; doing and acting as he pleases like some deranged animal" He didn't step that bit closer to me, instead sounding like he carefully shifted his weight from one hip to another combined with the gentle sounds of clothes rustling. Good fucking god (I didn't even believe in the latter), was he so impatient that he was already disrobing behind me? "Unfortunately, it seems that his behaviour has spread over to you like some disease... So I'm going to have to make you behave, just like he does now"

 _BZZT!_ The momentary noise of electricity sparking loudly behind me only managed to register in my mind a small bit before I felt two cold prongs of metal contact my skin, causing my muscles to violently contract the moment the taser sent large volts of electricity to surge through my body. Try as I might, there was no overriding switch in my mind to tell my failings limbs to relax; causing my entire body to collapse onto the floor - my chin just narrowly missing the left armrest of the now infamous 'torture chair'. Had my mouth been open to say some retort before the shock, then I easily could have imagined that my jaw would have tightly clamped shut and tried to cut my tongue in half.

"Ah, and here I thought that this might not work after two years" Carver's voice had adopted that all-too-familiar sing-song element to it, while I writhed on the floor. With the couple of seconds that I had to recover, all of my effort went into correcting the spasming muscles responsible for my lungs, as trying to breathe with them in that state was near impossible. "Good to see that it has its uses"

Now being able to breath, I just barely had managed to get back the control of three fingers (my index on my right hand along with the ring and middle on the left) when he casually placed the taser away on the nearby desk, before hovering over me. There was little to no resistance when his hands reached down to find some purchases underneath my armpits, and hauled me up like I was nothing more than a ragdoll. My right foot returned just too late to attempt to kick him; as he took his time to maneuver me until he was able to deposit me into the same chair that Troy had been the previous night. The blood was dry by then - even crackling somewhat from the disturbance of my deadweight dropping onto the padded chair - and soon my own was joining to join the splotches all around if nothing were to change.

Carver was practically merry as he fetched two zip-ties from a nearby location, even daring to hum to himself as he tightened them around my arms near my elbows. Forget the fact that this was just as premeditated, he was _excited_.

"Fffff... Rot in hell" After carefully correcting my original curse against him, I used what bit of muscle I had regained in my tongue and mouth to sincerely wish the worst punishment on him.

"It's a shame I don't believe in that" I wanted to spit in his face for even admitting that he believed the same things as me, and it frankly disgusted me so much that I considered whether turning religious was an option by that point. He was distracted by something that he had placed right behind the bucket of water he had kept there, but I had a feeling that I wouldn't be kept in the dark that much longer. "But even if it did, you can be certain that we would be seeing each other there"

"I'll make sure to remember that" I hissed at him, shifting my body around to see whether I had control of my legs back... Not yet. It would take a bit longer before I had them, and there was some merit in hiding just how much I could move while he hadn't tied my legs down just yet. "I'll use my extra velocity when I fall down to hell to squash you under my heel"

It initially appeared as if I had won the verbal debate simply because he hadn't responded to my final remark, but it soon became clear when he turned around to show exactly what he had been fiddling with all that time; heaving a cinder block up with his hands. While our venomous words were talking in the hypothetical, it looked like he was intending to make hell on earth exist in an entirely different way.

"I'm going to break every bone in your body until you learn" He told me simply what he was planning on doing to me before he even got to making me carry his seed, but the casual tone clashed heavily with the absolutely ecstatic grin on his face. "You're quite lucky compared to him however, as I'll give you a chance to ease up before it's even begun"

My response was to gather up the saliva in my mouth and spit it as hard as I could manage directly into his left eye, truly embodying Carlos in regards to my spunk considering the doctor didn't get the chance to do it himself. It hit right where I hoped it would, causing him to recoil in disgust before lifting his other hand to wipe it away - my pleasure rising when I noticed that his eye was now steadily growing red as the intrusion inflamed it.

" _Wrong answer_ " Had we even been remotely related to wolves in any manner, I would have said that he utterly _growled_ those words. But as much as he was livid, he was also equally excited from it; as he now had an excuse to hurt me.

There was no fanfare to his first hit, lifting up the cinder-block and experimentally dropping it onto my left foot. It slammed down with surprising force - a loud _clunk!_ accompanying the movement - before my tissue and muscles seemed to make it bounce just enough to prevent it landing on the poor limb a second time; the pain instantly shooting up my leg into my spine.

I couldn't have prepared any part of my mind to anticipate the absolutely excruciating pain that it caused, my head unconsciously tilting back to release the scream that poured from my mouth. My angled head wasn't enough to stop seeing the way his eyes widened in utter glee, drinking in the sight of someone in utter agony. Letting my lungs expend all the air it could in one go, he casually went to collect the cinder block from the floor, while I struggled to even breath through the way that my chest burned with the monumental effort.

He paused as he picked the rudimentary stone weapon up in his hands again, clearly waiting to see whether one dose of pain was enough to make me crack under the pressure... Although I firmly believed that he was hoping that I would resist so that he could keep going.

"Make..." Just speaking was a struggle in itself, my body trying to still release all oxygen in some form of pained expression, and for a moment he seemed to look disappointed that my words were sounding close to 'make it stop'. But while my body wasn't able to tolerate much, my spirit defiantly reared its head; proving that there was no way in this universe or the last that I would have relented to him. After all, this was just one bone out of two hundred and six. "Make sure... To get the other foot. I'd hate to think... That people think my left side is unlucky"

That seemed to tick just the right box for him, that same maniacal grin and ecstatic glee returning like the flick of a switch. Had he been undressed, I likely would have expected him to sport some kind of physical reaction from it all; that's how deranged he seemed.

" _Gladly"_ That sounded close to a purr, him hefting up the cinder-block to throw it this time rather than just drop it, and my entire body clenched tightly as an unconscious defense mechanism.

 _"Blip..._ Carver!"

Saved by the metaphorical bell yet again; Carver's lackeys anxiously calling him through the walkie-talkie that he clearly had forgotten to switch off in his business. I was saved so often by it - both from the events of the first season as well as things going on in the second - that someone superstitious might have even gathered that the devices were some kind of lucky object for me... Or who knows, maybe this was the universe throwing me a bone after the cascades of bad luck it had given me.

Heaving the cinder-block aside for the time being - he didn't dare waste any of my precious pain while he was distracted after all - he picked up the walkie-talkie with such force that it was a wonder that he didn't break the thing as he clenched it tight in his hands.

"I swear to fucking god, if this is for some stupid reason then I am going to drive my gun right into your head and-

"There's a bomb!"

That was enough to snatch my attention as well, as the pain of my foot seemed to ease a little as time went by. Carver seemed to think it was absolute nonsense, but no matter how hard he kept arguing with them about how there was no way a bomb could have been made in the compound without them knowing about it, the doubt was never completely gone.

"H...Hold on, that's impossible"

"But it's really here! I'm looking right at it with Johnny right next to me who can confirm it!"

"Bill, what do we do?!"

"Shut up for once and let me think!"

There was no way around it; this was something that Carver couldn't ignore in favour of playing around with me. If it weren't for the fact that I was still attempting to pretend that the most of my body was limited, I would have sarcastically waved at him as he scrambled out the door of the office, slamming it shut behind him.

After waiting a little bit to ensure that he wasn't going to be returning a second later for something that he forgot - letting the noise of him stomping down the stairs act as my indicator for when it was safe - I tested my arms and legs. My left foot still seared in pain whenever I attempted to move it, but everything else was still perfectly intact and beginning to function normally.

Due to the fact he had been arrogant enough to only tie the elbows of my arms, there was just enough room for my hands to carefully wander close to my chest before snatching the razor. The tape had served its purpose quite well in keeping it still secured to me even after I ended up taking a nosedive over the floor, and it sliced through the two zip-ties keeping me in place with only the tiniest amount of effort on my part.

Just as I began to lift myself off that blasted chair onto my feet did I realise that he hadn't managed to break the bones in my foot whatsoever, as I could imagine that a broken foot would make it completely impossible to walk at all. Yet another sign of his incompetence, something that I gladly would take in place of the suffering he had put me through.

Even with that realisation, there was still a hefty amount of cringing once my left foot had to take some weight. It was only when I was standing that I realised there was the sound of someone entering the room. But far from it being someone coming through the typical door, it was someone lifting open the skylight above me... And it certainly seemed like my luck was beginning to turn once I recognised the bright eyes of my daughter finding mine.

"Mum!" She was just as happy to see me as I was her, her carefully clambering down the row of filing cabinets that acted as an impromptu staircase for her. The enemies in the compound undoubtedly were far too busy with their new bomb threat to pay any attention to the prisoners anyway, so her sneaking over the roof would have been easy even while it was daylight. "I'm here to rescue you"

"I figured as much" I smiled at the same time as she and I hugged each other tightly, with her avoiding asking any questions about the bloody room considering she could see that it didn't come from me. And her coming to help me was far better than anything else, even if it was technically no longer needed it. "Did Bonnie tell you that I needed help?"

"She did, along with the other three people we have been with" She explained as best she could considering her hurried tone, soon enough realising that we couldn't stay there for long; tugging me along to the filing cabinets so that we both could go sneak over the roof together. "Come on, we're leaving"

"Wait, there's some weapons we could use here" I didn't want to leave without the taser that had been used against me - yet another thing he had left behind in his rush once the threat of a bomb had been announced - along with the gun that I knew he'd have hidden in the drawers. It was only when I handed off the gun to Clementine to use (I was worried that my foot would cause my aim to be lopsided in some manner) did I consider her sentence in a wider scope, realising that her hurried tone couldn't mean that we were just leaving that office. "...Wait, did you say leaving?"

"We have a plan" Clementine's smile felt as bright as the sun when I looked at her, equally hopeful and trusting of the others in what they had all decided on. The idea of following a plan that I had very little knowledge over seemed to cause it's own feeling of anxiety to grow in me... But I soon cast it aside. I trusted those within my group, and if they swear to heaven and high above that they were going to take care of me then who was I to refuse?

"Alright then" I sighed softly, for once relishing the opportunity to just leave the planning up the others. "Lead the way darling"

There was the clear difference in speed between her and I when she practically sprinted over to the cabinets - my own movements being a far more sluggish limp - but it was clear that she wasn't going to leave me behind even if it was convenient for her. I had the benefit of being able to use my knees as I followed her, and the sight of the grey sky above me was wondrous.

"Not that way" I softly whispered to her as she began to sneak back over towards the yard, and she instantly followed to where I was pointing just a bit off to the other skylight on the roof nearby. "In the game, when the group tries to escape Carver catches them. I just want to take this route in case something happens so that we can sneak up on them"

The latter sentence had become much of a habit since coming to that habit, as people always wanted to know the reasons behind things and not just take things at face value. Not to mention that most people within that new world were special to me, and their approval meant so much more to me than words could describe... And as such, Clementine softly closing her hand around mine as a gentle way to remind me that she didn't need any sort of reasoning to trust me was a reminder of exactly why I loved her.

Even though there wasn't any sign of people looking our way I couldn't resist the sense of safety that crawling across the roof gave me (and besides, my foot was extremely grateful for it), joining Clementine in peering over the next set of skylights.

The universe - which by this point I could no longer tell if it was trying to help or hinder me - certainly was a fan of its old tricks; as we could spot our entire group down below frozen right in the middle of the deserted warehouse, with Carver glowering over them all with a hefty shotgun in his hands that he had undoubtedly pilfered straight from Russel's hands. Even with Bonnie, Wyatt, Shel, Vince and him standing nearby as if to signify that my group wasn't doing anything wrong by being there, our resident kidnapper looked pissed beyond all belief. Whether he had returned because he realised he had left me behind or because he thought the bomb fiasco was down to them doing things behind the scenes, the situation called for a mother-daughter combo to save the day.

"Are you ready to play the hero?" I asked her, and I was never more proud to see her flick open the pistol to inspect it before snapping it back shut with a confident click, a confident grin on her face that I knew she had gotten from me. "That's my girl"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Marjoram!
> 
> https://imgflip.com/i/4h6l0h  
> https://imgflip.com/i/4h6l0f  
> https://imgflip.com/i/4h6l0b  
> https://imgflip.com/i/4h6l08  
> https://imgflip.com/i/4h6l04


	33. Within the Spiders Web

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning; Discussions of rape/attempted rape, as well as mutilation takes place within this chapter. If any of these themes concern you, then please take caution

"Is this how you repay my kindness - my care for my flock - by attempting to destroy _everything_ I have built here?!" Carver's voice communicated clearly just how furious he was with the prisoners gathered there, but especially for the guards who still hovered around them. I didn't even need to see his face clearly to get the feeling that he was livid enough to not cover his emotions with another fake mask; showing them all a horrific rage that... Likely only had been glimpsed by myself and Troy before that point.

"Carver, we really have no idea what-

"SHUT UP! Don't you _dare_ play ignorant with _me!_ " Any attempt to assuage him fell on deaf ears, even if the person attempting to do so was likely completely innocent. Russel, Bonnie, Wyatt and Shel had been with me for only the span of a couple of minutes before I got hauled off to the office, so it seemed extraordinarily unlikely that any of them were able to make a bomb in that time period - let alone dash across to the other side of their compound to plant it, and make it back without being seen. They likely were extremely unlucky; as they happened to be coming out of the yard with their associated groups of prisoners when Carver stormed down the stairs. He likely hadn't even seen the bomb yet (if it even existed), but took out his anger on the group of people who he was paranoid about. "I don't care how you did it, but someone here must have plotted to sabotage our haven! It doesn't matter who it was, they will feel my wrath!"

It was a familiar sight to the one I had seen at the Moonstar Lodge; everyone being present with their weapons placed down at their feet lest they earn the fury of their captors. In fact, the only real difference I could discern between then and now was who was on what side - as Carver was the only one keeping everyone hostage, the guards no longer being on his side at all. Another big difference was the state of Troy, who had his arms slung over Doug and Glenn's shoulders nearby... But it was clear that for the foreseeable future, he would have to rely on the kindness of others to survive.

Clementine was far stealthier climbing down than I was, as her little feet were able to scramble at a faster pace with half the amount of noise that I made. The only benefit my taller height gave me was the opportunity for better hand-holds around the metal beams, but even those couldn't help against the shooting pain my newly acquired injury gave me periodically; which left me pausing at several points to prevent myself from cringing in pain. Moving it around so much at least gave me the piece of mind that it most certainly was not broken, but I could only image the pain it would give me when the blood within my bruise would inflame the entire limb.

Thankfully, I did not have to worry much about anyone hearing me shimmy my way down. Carver was loud enough that my noises were akin to a pin dropping on the floor; practically silent. And the secondary worry of mine that I would be spotted by him was also one that I didn't need to take into account anymore than I did the noise, as the universe stubbornly clinging to the original timeline ensured that his attention was solely fixated on the mass of people gathered before him. Only one person managed to see me behind him; Wyatt's eyes widening for a fraction of a second when he dared to glance over the head of his leader... But he didn't say anything, quickly pretending to not have seen anything.

Clementine paused the moment she reached the second rung on the beams, where we both were about three meters from the floor. She hadn't yet taken a shot against the man parading around below us, and for good reason to; as his sauntering back and forth and swiveling head made his brain a more difficult task than we would have liked. Not to mention there would be the slight worry that the weapon he held - and assault rifle - would go off from some sort of instinctual clenching of his hands after he died.

There were locations on the human body that ensured quite the amount of pain if they were struck however. After ensuring that Clementine was looking at me, I gestured with one of my fingers to the back of my knee; as while Carver was indeed pacing relentlessly, he did often pause at one end. After watching him intently to pick out his patterns, Clementine raised the pistol in her hands, giving him only the split-second sound of the gun cocking as a warning.

"Wha-

 _BANG!_ Clementine struck him directly through his left leg, causing a horrific scream to leap out of his throat. Him screaming in pain and tumbling down wasn't enough for me, as I leaped off my perch above him to make good on my promise from earlier; my right foot slamming into the back of his head, and using my velocity to slam his head into the floor beneath him.

I ended up tumbling over him into a pile on the floor as well due to my poor balance at the time, but I was thankfully able to roll over onto my shoulder to diminish the damage it might have done. There was an unfortunate thumping pain in my right foot because of it, but that would soon leave... And Carver will have a broken nose to show for it, which satisfied that feeling of revenge within my mind enough for the time being.

Carver was still stubbornly clinging onto the one weapon he still had in his hand, but it seemed like he was going to be losing it quite soon from the way Luke and Mark were pouncing onto his arm. All it took was Lilly and Carley stomping their feet onto his hand for the bastard to finally release it with another startled cry, and he had been reduced from a real threat down to nothing more than an irritating obstacle.

"You never can make a normal entrance, can you?" Omid cracked a joke, something that I dearly had missed in the admittedly short amount of time that I had been kept apart from him. My only tangible response was to smile cheekily at him, as he should have known by then that this world - and I - were far from 'normal'. "Here, let me help you up"

I took his hand gratefully, as my feet were in a state by then that getting up the typical way would take agonizingly long. He must have felt it by the way I tightly gripped onto his hand, as I took full advantage of his weight to get up. Usually offering one a hand was more of a formality, but this was one time where I sincerely needed it.

"Primrose, what happened to your legs?" Katjaa also noticed my odd behaviour, at least being able to pick up that it was something to do with the lower half of my body; far beyond kicking someone in the back of the head would do. All it took was my head angling towards the man still left in a mess on the floor to give enough of an impression, as I didn't think there was quite the time to go into full detail. "...Ah, of course"

"Great job Clem" Kenny and I had some similarities in how we treated Clementine, as he softly pet the top of her hat in a similar manner that I would. It had been a while since he had the chance to do that, and the smile on her face clearly portrayed that she was extremely happy for the praise. "Now that everyone is here, we can properly start to get goin'"

There was the lingering worry in the back of my mind that the guards weren't exactly 'up-to-date' with the plans to escape, but a quick glance over at each one of the five guards calmed those fears. Russel and Wyatt were ready to jump ship the moment they heard their boss' new 'past-time', and Bonnie had shed all preconceived notions about him; seeing the man for who he truly had become. Shel of course would come because of how he had treated Mike, and she clearly had done her due diligence by going to collect Becca in the moments they had to plan without me. And Vince, well... The waters were muddy between him and his brother, but the link between them was stronger than this place.

"Hg..." Initially the sound of someone spitting something out was completely ignored, but the following laughter didn't get ignored in the same manner. It was a one that seemed to have been concocted together with a heavy dose of cockiness, eerie nature and sadism, so I already knew who it was long before I turned my head dismissively towards them. "...I knew that I was right about you"

It was sad, really. Carver was still clinging to the idea that he and I were similar to each other. After all, it would shatter his ego beyond repair to discover that some people really did command respect in avenues other than fear.

"You really love to hear yourself talk, don't you?" Alvin had long since been sick of the man plaguing them, but it frankly felt cathartic beyond anything else to just hear him talk. Within the original universe Alvin never got to have his final say to him, so I was more than happy to let him go at it. "You delude yourself into thinking you're somehow _so great,_ when all this boils down to is that you're a grown man who throws his toys out of the pram when everything doesn't _exactly_ go his way. The world isn't like Lord of the Flies, asshole"

"Then you'll be sorely disappointed if you follow her" I truly begun to regret not taking some sort of gag with me from his office, as he _really_ did not know when to stop running his mouth. Even the way his voice went nasally from his broken nose wasn't enough to tide me over, wishing I was allowed the option to just kill him already. "She's like a spider; weaving her little web between you all. Once she has those little strings hooked into your heart, she pulls at them like a puppet master until you dance to her tune"

"I guess that makes you the fly in comparison" I was long since indifferent about regarding myself as a monster, something that would have plagued me around two years ago. Had Carver tried to play his mind games with me before I had met John, then maybe it would have worked out for him. "Incessantly loud and irritating, and my natural prey. But most importantly; nobody cares about you at all"

My words weren't really meant to be a threat to him, instead a pointed reminder of just how little people would truly stay by his side after this was over. He seemed like he wanted to retort in some manner - with some maniacal grin to go with it - before he looked around at his guards to see whether any of them were going to support him.

Nobody stood by him. The nicest that someone did was avoid his gaze (Bonnie, namely), but the other four merely glared at him for _daring_ to think that somehow they would still support him. I'm not sure what compelled him to look to Troy, but the answer was quite clear from his former second-in-command's stance; even if he could stand, there was no chance in hell for him to get sympathy in his last remaining hawk-like eye.

It was only when someone gently tapped my shoulder with a solid object did I dare let my mind wander over to the more vicious side of things. Nick had come to rest beside me while offering the hilt of my trusty fire-axe, as one of the four guards clearly must have gone off to collect the confiscated goods of our people. It didn't take a genius to understand what he was insinuating, and it would have been clear even without the murder clear in his eyes... But unfortunately, that meant others felt that they had the right to argue against it.

"W-Wait, isn't that a little extreme?" Reggie seemed to consider the notion of killing our captor to be crossing the moral event horizon, despite the fact the manner I used to kill John could be considered far worse. Then again, he didn't know about that one. "I know he's bad, but he's already been shot through the leg! He won't come after us when we leave"

"That's what _we_ thought the first time we left" Rebecca countered his claim that we would fine after leaving, and she and I knew that Carver wouldn't let either of us go without a fight. Her for the child she was carrying (and perhaps just a sense of possessiveness, who knows) and myself for the sheer fact he had become obsessed with me raising 'the next generation' (also for some twisted sense that he thought we were similar). "If we leave him, he'll just do it again. If not to us, then to some other poor souls to come near this place"

"I frankly agree" Travis felt that he had to say something in agreement, as this situation felt quite similar to the St. Johns. If Mark, Duck and I hadn't taken care of Danny, Andy and Brenda, then they would have had free reign to continue the same way they had with us. "Letting monsters go free is worse than putting them down"

"You sound like you're talking about some kind of dog who bit a child" I didn't quite jump into the fray to give my opinion - it likely was quite well known for those who had been around me since the beginning - but it seemed to be that Reggie was the only one arguing in the opposite. Some people were a little hesitant - Luke, Bonnie, Sarah, Sarita and Matthew showed this by remaining silent as they mulled the situation over in their minds - while everyone else was firmly on the other side of the fence; calling for Carver's blood.

"Considering what he did, comparing him to a dog is an insult to the dog" Russel snorted, but it was clear from the silence coming from Reggie that he was quite... Insistent on his view point. "Are you seriously going to claim that trying to rape Primrose-

"Wait, what?!" Glenn loudly interrupted Russel, but the latter kept on going as if he hadn't managed to hear him. "Prim, is-

"-keeping people prisoner and _torturing someone,_ is not that bad?!" Russel seethed to such an extent that I didn't even manage to hear the end of Glenn's question. It likely was asking me to confirm the claim that Russel had just made (I hadn't told anyone outside of the guards after all), but I had the feeling that my voice would have been drowned out even if I tried to chime in.

There was no dodging the subject now; my fourteen lovers (was it even fourteen by that point? I admittedly lost track in the chaos of that hardware store) being completely thrown by the news that had been dropped into the mix.

If I had thought that Nick, Kenny, Carley and Lilly wanted to murder him before, that _was nothing_ compared to how they looked now. Even blinking was dangerous by that point; as I was quite certain that one of them would shortly be found with their hands tightly wound around his neck if we didn't keep an eye on them. In a similar vein, Mark and Luke looked like they regretted not being rougher with the man in getting his weapon off him.

Doug and Glenn looked as miserable as one could be in that moment, as neither of them could immediately leave Troy there. Glenn had never been someone to look vicious, but the way his fingers curled into a white knuckled grip on Troy's jacket gave a strong impression of what might have happened if he wasn't forced to help his new comrade out. Doug looked like he wanted to leave as well, but it was for a far different reason entirely; his nurturing side coming to the fore with his glances towards me.

Ben looked equally relieved and disappointed with the fact he hadn't gotten his hooked hand back, even impatiently gesturing with his left hand for Travis to give it to him. Travis looked over at Carver - holding the same amount of contempt - but ultimately shook his head before mouthing 'we should let Prim handle it'. Ben noticeably got irritated with that answer... Before settling himself, and accepting that Travis wasn't going to oblige him.

Carlos was stuck placing his hands over Sarah's ears the sheer moment the 'r' word got announced, not wanting to paint an image in his young daughters mind of what may or may not have happened. The poor girl looked like she was struggling enough as it was, so Clementine came along to hold her hand to give her some comfort.

Omid and Sarita both forwent the idea of getting revenge for it, carefully peeling themselves away from their original locations to be close to me. Sarita looked like she was considering putting her hand on my shoulder... But took her hand away after a short pause, unsure whether touching me was something that I really did not want in that moment of time.

"I... Look, I admit those are definitely bad things" Even Reggie couldn't paint any of those in a positive light, the end of his sentence sounding unfortunately like he was going to try and paint it with a 'it could be worse' brush. "Maybe... Maybe Carver was acting somewhat skeezy, and she misunderstood what he was trying to do, but-

"She didn't" Troy came to my defence long before I could blow up in his face about that remark, as he had been close by enough to know that it was _not_ me misunderstanding the situation. Reggie began to open his mouth yet again, but Troy wasn't having any of it. "SHE. DIDN'T. The only way I managed to get him away from her was by coming up with an excuse of how Luke and Nick were fighting with Kenny, and he took out his anger on me for it. Don't you _fucking dare_ insinuate that it was anything else"

"...So, that _was_ a lie" Carver picked the worst possible moment to open his mouth, effectively confirming the timeline of events as they had been laid out. Nick was no longer offering the fire-axe to me, he looked like he was planning on using it himself. "I figured as much"

"You can forget about labeling him as... As an attempted rapist" Rebecca's voice was quite soft for her usual tone, but the contents of her sentence naturally caught peoples attention. If her words weren't enough to clue people in, the gentle and yet apprehensive way she stroked her pregnant belly were damning evidence to spell out what she meant.

Alvin was silent for a good while, staring at her with a look of incredulity and shock. I worried for a moment that he had believed it to be closer to cheating on him (like the in-game variant of Rebecca was worried about), but soon those parts of shock turned into worry and regret for not spotting the signs sooner. Even if one could find a silver-lining in that sort of situation - one where I could be thankful that I was not in her situation - it didn't make me feel that much better.

"I'll do it" Nick reigned himself in just that little bit, whispering into my ear in a manner that screamed that he was begging me for my permission in the matter. "Just give the word, and I'll drive this axe right into his skull"

It felt like I had just been handed the lead on a vicious dog, one which was lunging towards the person I hated the most. Considering what we had just heard and gotten confirmed, it would be surprisingly easy to sick Nick onto him with the inflamed tempers in the room. And after everything was said and done, I could play innocent if I so chose to - like a person "accidentally" letting go of the lead. Nick would likely get off quite easy as well; as Carver had been responsible for getting his mother killed, had attempted to rape his girlfriend and just learned that he had succeeded in harming Rebecca (who was essentially the mother figure in the group after his own had died).

…But even so, there was something worrying me about completely letting go of that lead.

"Remove his ankle, the uninjured one" I gave him permission to do bodily harm - enough to ensure that Carver literally following us would be a living nightmare - but very specifically did not give him carte blanche. Nick clearly picked up on this, hesitating by me for a moment longer while trying to decipher why I wasn't eager to see the man dead. Truth be told, I _was_ chomping at the bit to see his face dead into the dirt, but I wanted to make a distinct difference between he and I. "Nick, I don't want anyone to get used to doing everything I tell them to. I don't want you to murder him just because I say so"

"I'm not murdering him just because you would say so" He pointedly reminded me that he probably would have tried to do so if I wasn't here, but that wasn't everything I was trying to do.

"I know, but I want to know that our group does have self-control. I want concrete proof beyond a doubt that if I were to ask you to do something heinous, that you would not just go along with it" I knew that it was an inconvenient time to remind the others within the group that there was a limit to how self-indulgent we would let ourselves become, but it was a lesson I had to ingrain before we could wander anywhere near what Carver had become. While Nick did huff in an annoyed manner, he seemed like he reluctantly understood. "If it helps at all, he'll be expecting us to kill him. Make it a final 'fuck you', would you?"

Nick was certainly on board with that plan, twirling the axe around enough so that he could firmly grip it with both of his hands. I took great pleasure in making the small movement to my right - accidentally brushing shoulders with Sarita because of how close she stood - giving Nick full access to step forward. He had gotten well accustomed to the weight of the axe due to the amount of times I had lent it to him while my arm was still injured, and it showed from the way Nick swung it through the air to get some practice swings in.

It turns out my powers of prediction weren't completely foolproof by that point, as there was one foreign emotion that flashed to the fore in Carver's eyes for a brief second; fear. He seemed shocked to see that it was Nick coming forward, his eyes soon casting over to me to see why I hadn't come forward. He had tried to foresee the future like I could but he utterly failed, and now he could catch a glimpse of something on my face that he had yet to see himself... Glee.

"N-No, wait-

Nick didn't; heaving the axe high above his head before slamming it down with a force that I would be unable to imitate. The blade of the axe easily cleaved through the delicate tissue and muscles that stood in the way but seemed to get stuck in the bone keeping the ankle connected to the leg. A couple of people decided to turn away when the blood curdling scream came from Carver's mouth, but I was not one of them; continuing to watch on as Nick freed the axe and heaved it above his head once more. The second swipe was enough to cut through the bone (or who knows, it may have just broken into two different jagged parts), Carver's hand tightly wound around his leg in a vain attempt to stop the blood from coming out.

"You think you're an Alpha wolf, huh?" Nick asked him, but for once it seemed to be that Carver was not in a state to smarmily respond to someone. Picking it up gingerly like it was somehow infected, Nick dangled the torn off foot - boot and socks still attached - in front of his face. "In that case, act like the filthy mutt you are. **_**Fetch**_** _"_

I half expected him to fling the foot as far as he could to make the process of retrieval exceedingly difficult, but he instead took the more direct approach of actually throwing the foot directly into Carver's face - the latter crying out in pain as it slammed into his still broken nose - before it bounced in an odd manner off to one side, splashing vast amounts of blood onto the black and white checkered floor.

When Nick turned his head to look at me, his face and arms were splashed in vast blotches of blood; a crimson red colour rather than the typical black gunk that came from Walkers. There was no need to be concerned about him going further than I told him to do, him walking over and handing the axe back to me - handle first, like a true gentleman.

"I... Oh my god-

"He'll likely survive when his other lackeys come back over here" Walter diminished the immediate horrified reaction coming from Reggie, and I didn't have to worry about the others who were hoping for a deadlier result; as their bloodlust was satiated for the time being. "All this means is that he'll think twice about running a dictatorship"

…I somewhat doubted the latter, but hey, whatever floated Reggie's boat. What I cared more about was him not being able to come after the people I cared about, and to ensure he had a taste of what Troy had to go through; relying on others to survive.

"We've wasted enough time on this waste of space" Luke seemed to be one of the people spear-heading the plan of our escape, as he quickly seemed to take on an authoritative tone to snap people back to attention. There was a glimmer of worry in his eyes when he looked at me (it was hard to tell exactly what it was about), but a soft smile to assure him that I would follow him with whatever seemed to soften that edge. "Let's leave this place in our dust"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I figure it would be fun to share what I consider to be the 'theme song' for this series (i.e. the song I would pick if I ever made some sort of video intro/opening for this series). That song is 'Addicted to a Memory' by Zedd ft. Bahari (techno music). Feel free to listen to that song while reading this series, in order to get a feeling for how I felt while writing this.
> 
> Also, I shouldn't forget the Melodies!  
> https://imgflip.com/i/4k8e4p  
> https://imgflip.com/i/4k8e50  
> https://imgflip.com/i/4k8e5s  
> https://imgflip.com/i/4k8e7h  
> https://imgflip.com/i/4k8e8c


	34. Flying too Close to the Sun

To my grateful surprise, the entire group weren't collectively attempting to head directly out the front of the hardware store, instead circling around to one set of stairs that would lead to the roof. It meant that we were further away from getting out, which didn't make much sense to me, but I didn't hesitate in following behind them. After all, I wasn't in on the plan; it made sense that I would not know what they were doing.

"Do you need to be carried?" Mark stopped me from taking my first step onto the set of stairs, as my hobbling would likely be in the way for anyone who was behind me.

"I..." I was about to fall right back into old habits yet again, beginning to utter the words _'I'm fine'_ to him before diverging attention away to Troy's vast list of injuries instead. But it was clear that he was already being seen to; Nick hoisting Troy onto his back and carrying him around like a very noisy backpack.

"Ugh, you smell horrible!" Troy complained about Nick's odour by that point, as now the young man also had a fresh coat of blood that was beginning to seep into his hair and clothing.

"I don't smell any worse than everyone else here" Nick ultimately wasn't bothered by Troy's remark, as it was common for Troy to make scathing remarks about people and there wasn't a single person in that midst who had a proper shower in days (possibly weeks). One might even surmise jabs were the latter's way of showing that he cared about you, who knows.

When my attention came back from the two of them, Mark was still patiently waiting to see whether I needed the help. Not only was it good sense to show the right example (i.e. not stubbornly refusing help due to pride), there were plenty of people available to take on tasks if he was busy - it was one of the upsides to a large group after all.

"...Actually, yes, that would be great" It was odd initially to accept his help rather than insist that I do it myself, but the immediate blinding smile lighting up his face was enough to tell my mind that it was the right choice - even if it only resulted in making Mark happy.

Quickly hopping onto his back like Troy was being carried, my feet instantly started to appreciate the weight taken off them by sending a rush of endorphins up into my mind. Just like I should have expected, Mark easily started to ascend the stairs even with my extra weight on him, the both of us hurrying to catch up with the others already partway up the stairs.

Even if the rooftop door was locked to us, Wyatt and Matthew kicking it open in tandem ensured that we were able to break out into the fresh windy air of the rooftop. It was almost reassuring to see those grey skies, but there was a part of me that was uncertain of our escape plan considering it was still early in the morning.

Speaking of grey skies, the sky above us started to wobble and shake with their pleasure(?) that Alvin and Troy made it out safely. Once it settled down it was quite the dark colour of grey - like a storm was going to be accompanying it shortly. In comparison, the newly converted guards went quite the opposite direction of settling down.

"What the absolute-

"Yeah, we know, it looks weird" Kenny wasn't nearly as patient as I was in explaining what was going on with the sky, shuffling that to the 'I'll explain some other time' pile instead. It made sense, as we were currently trying to escape a compound, not hold a group-wide lecture on things that were common knowledge to most of us. "Just know that it's a good thing if you see that"

"I hate to be negative, but what's the plan here?" My own mind started to get anxious the more it was reminded that we still weren't free yet - especially in combination with the fact that I was certain that the bomb was not a real thing - as even with some time to think it over I was drawing blanks on how going up to the roof was going to get people out of the compound safely. "Unless you guys suddenly developed the ability to spontaneously grow wings, this seems like a bad way to get out"

"Growing wings does sound cooler to be honest" Doug laughed, momentarily shedding his worry for me (as he didn't want to ask about it under the current circumstances), but he soon gestured over to Carley and Lilly to show that the two ladies were putting the plan into quick motion. "But in that case we wouldn't get to try Walter's idea"

Right in the middle of this section of the roof was a large sentry tower (undoubtedly made for people with binoculars to spot roaming hordes coming anywhere near the compound), which seemed to be integral to the plan as Lilly and Carley both started to climb the metal support beams to get as high as they could on it. Fastened on their backs were what seemed to be rudimentary crossbows, fashioned from still useful pieces of wood and rubber, while on their hips seemed to be grappling hooks attached to extremely long smooth wire ropes.

The moment they were high enough on the sentry towers both ladies attached one end of their grappling rope lines securely around the corner of the sentry post, before aiming their crossbows high in the sky. When the crossbows launched they flung the grappling hooks farther than I had expected them to go, sailing clear into the trees far into the distance. Lilly was able to pull her cord back sharply until it got stuck into a sturdy tree, while Carley had to redo hers (and get it past the walkers, who luckily seemed to miss the skittering metal when it passed them by) and before long we had two wires stretching out clear past the walker horde into the trees.

"We have enough carabiners for each person" During the demonstration Katjaa and Sarita began to hand out two large carabiners to each person - with the former even telling me about how many they had in case I was worried we would run out - with each one looking large enough for a person to tightly hold onto with a single hand. First to test out the long wires was Omid, who began to climb up the sentry post, before clipping one of his carabiners on each line to evenly distribute his weight. "You have to hold on as tight as you can, that's the only proviso"

"Make sure to keep your feet and arms within the ride at all times lest you want the walkers to snack on your toes" Omid added that little tidbit of humour before he launched off, completely trusting in the construct that they had all planned on.

With a loud continuous _bzzz_ noise accompanying him down, Omid flew down the wires like he had indeed just gotten his wings, sailing clear over the walkers that would have threatened his life (but especially Sarita's life) otherwise. Some of us did hear him loudly exclaim 'OW!' when he first crashed through the branches standing in his way, but it seemed extraordinarily likely that he had made it all the way out without any harm. And just as soon as he had made it out, Christa started to climb up the sentry tower with Rose securely fastened to her back in a child carrier, clipping herself in just the same.

"All injured or pregnant people should go down with an accompanying person. That especially includes you Prim, I don't want to see you sliding down on your own" Carlos started to add some extra details now that it was confirmed that it was working all as planned, even purposefully rounding on me while I was still being carried by Mark. He knew me all to well, so I especially nodded with my own cheeky grin to show that I understood him. "If anyone is feeling anxious about going down, whether it be because of a fear of heights or you simply feel weak, please say so now"

"I did promise Alvin that I would be the person accompanying Rebecca, but I can swap with someone else if you want" Mark was of course offering his help to anyone who needed it (not to the extent that I did often, but certainly to many people), but I didn't think I needed as much help. As far as I was aware Mark was the second strongest after Nick, so it only made sense that Rebecca would take his help.

"I can go with Primrose" Before I even had to say so, someone else offered themselves up; Jane. Mark's head reclined a little to see whether I was fine with the choice, and he quickly could distinguish that I wasn't worried.

"Jane's a good person; I trust her" I said so if there was any doubt, and Mark accepted it by gently lowing me back down so I could stand on my two feet. My left foot was not quite happy with that, but my right foot was healed enough by then that I could put most of my weight onto it. As Mark darted off to find Rebecca and get her down just as safely as others had managed to do, my curiosity got the better of me while I had to wait for others to go before me. "How did you guys even manage to do all of this in five minutes?"

"It was sorted last night actually, after you dropped off Troy in our laps. Any trace of bickering that they had been doing the previous night seemed to dissipate into thin air now that they actually had to get people out of here... Kind of like the saying 'the enemy of my enemy', where they seemed to realise that they were working towards similar goals" Jane snickered, finding it incredibly funny how quickly they all seemed to change tune the moment real danger was presented to them. It certainly seemed to be quite obvious in how they got along now - like a house on fire rather than attempting to fight with one another at every turn - that one could certainly call the transformation process an overnight one. "After they pulled their big-kid pants on, we got to work. Clementine had an easy time sneaking out of the yard considering Vince had switched over to looking after you, so she brought back everything that Walter suggested. Everyone who wasn't treating Troy got to work"

"So _that_ was why everyone was dead tired this morning" It hit me like a brick to the forehead once I started to piece the separate pieces together, as well making a number of logical leaps myself. "So that's why you guys waited until Vince was with you guys this morning, so that you could have a legitimate claim to say that you planted the so-called bomb?"

"So-called?" Jane couldn't help but ask me, clearly not getting what I was insinuating.

The answer to that question came shortly after Jane stopped talking, a hefty explosion sounding from the other side of the compound. The astonishment must have been clear in my face when I turned and stared at the new large plumage of smoke rising from that direction, because as it turned out the bomb was entirely real.

"Our chemistry teacher Mrs. Barnfeld would be proud" Ben proudly accepted that bomb as their accomplishment, bumping fists with Travis next to him. He certainly had improved on his days of just throwing firecrackers at bandits, proudly grinning at me when my astonished look was cast in his direction. "Honestly, blame them for keeping the potassium near the water storage. It's like they were trying to goad someone into doing that at least once"

"If only Walter's classes were that fun when I attended them" Matthew cheekily teased his partner about it, as of course politics could _not_ explode a portion of an enemy building. Walter unfortunately did not get a chance to make a smart retort, as Matthew was the very next person to go zipping down our impromptu flying fox.

People weren't waiting around for permission, as the moment the sentry tower was open there would be someone new clambering up the metal until they could go. And with a total of thirty-two people to get down in total, there was no shortage of people waiting for their turn even when nine people had gone already.

"Sarah, you go with Clementine" Alvin ensured that the somewhat anxious teenage girl at least had one partner who she trusted with her, him looking on in slight worry as Rebecca and Mark proceeded to head down. The wires dipped a bit lower than we hoped for due to the two of them going at the same time, which did give the impression that the paired up people should go later in case it snapped before the majority were gone yet. "You'll be fine, okay? See, your dad is doing just fine"

Carlos went right after Rebecca and Mark on his own, and I couldn't help but follow him due to the worry of the walker horde underneath his legs. The sky already began to wobble the moment he sailed clear over their heads, and I finally felt that I could breathe a sigh of relief when it came to his predestined death.

"Race you guys down!" Travis and Ben were quite the daredevils in their own right, as after the former yelled that out they each individually took one wire each due to their lighter weight - with both wires holding steady even as Ben scraped his hooked hand all the way down.

As the cluster of 500 Days people shot down, Luke started to hurriedly count the people remaining. We undoubtedly didn't have all the time in the world to linger about; anyone who found the injured Carver in the main area would soon be told that we had gone up to the roof, and there was the high chance that someone would come and see what was taking said man so long now that the bomb had exploded on the other side of Howe's Hardware.

"...Just nine more to go" He counted after Sarah, Clementine and Alvin went down, quickly packing away his assault rifle so that he could climb the sentry tower to go next. "Don't wait too long guys"

With a nervous departure, he shot down next with a worried look on his face. That was the first moment there seemed to be some hesitation with people waiting their turns, with Lilly and Carley hurriedly gesturing for me and Jane to go next.

"No, Troy and Nick should go next" I insisted that someone else go, as Jane was still tying my chest around hers so that we could safely go down as a tandem. As it was, there was no way that I was going to let our most injured party go last and Reggie was still fussing over whether Mike had tied him tight enough to him, so it wasn't like we would be the last ones anyway.

"Hold on tight" Nick told the man still perched on his back - who was now tied as securely as one could to him with several bindings of duct tape - who snorted in response considering his injured hands. But even so, I could see that Troy was biting his lip in pain, because he _was_ worriedly clinging onto the others shirt as tight as he could manage.

I was thankful for Nick not taking too much time, him hurrying to clip the carabiners in and soaring off. Even with him being the strongest out of us all, I could see the visible strain it all put on his arms with the deadweight that came from Troy. Had we assigned any random person to Troy, I could have imagined that person losing the grip on their hands halfway through their journey down... But Nick didn't do so, safely crashing through the battered branches to join the others.

"Lilly and I will go next, hopefully we'll be light enough to go single wire style like Travis and Ben did" Carley explained that as she securely hung onto her own carabiners, as they had both been staying behind to help others climb up the sentry tower. "Here goes"

Lilly hesitated for a split-second before going after her on the right wire, clearly worried about leaving me in the hands of someone who we didn't know all that well... But the moment I gestured with my head she went, accepting that I knew Jane enough from the game to trust her. The wires dipped down much further than Ben and Travis' combo did, but it held firm as the two ladies that I loved safely made it down.

"Alright, we're secure" Jane was finally satisfied with her work on our combo, with her being tightly pressed against me. "Are you two going to hurry up and go, or what?"

"I... I'm not too sure about this" Reggie didn't trust in the construct nor the idea that he was tied to Mike, as his missing arm meant that he wasn't able to securely ride down on his own.

"I've got him" Mike huffed, clearly making the decision for the nervous man by using his superior strength to haul Reggie towards the sentry tower. I honestly felt bad for Mike, as he had been the only to volunteer to go with Reggie after the latter's wishy-washy stance on things, and it looked like we were paying the consequences for it in the long run. "Let's go man, we can't wait around forever!"

"Wha- Wait!"

Even though our feet weren't tied together, I could keenly feel Jane tap her foot impatiently as we had to wait for the two of them to clamber up the sentry tower first. I was about to open my mouth to reassure her that we weren't going to miss our chance, when... An all too familiar feeling started to rise in my gut.

"We need to go" I insistently told Jane that lingering around would be bad, waiting only a fraction of a second so that Mike and Reggie could start their descent before we hopped on as well. I would have already begun scrambling up the sentry tower if it wasn't for the fact I was worried about shifting the duct tape that kept me close to Jane, as loosening it would be quite bad.

"Is this a gut instinct thing, or a 'knowledge' thing?" Jane certainly was paying attention, her lean muscles feeling like they were tensed and ready for action now that I had warned her.

"The first one, but it's rarely been-

The sound of the rooftop door being flung open again sent off all of the warning sirens in my mind. Thankfully it did the very same within Jane's mind, who seemed to carefully press against the back of me with several of her limbs so that we could move in tandem.

Because I was at the front of the two of us, I moved forward and began to scramble up the sentry tower despite the pain coming from my left foot. Right as we got halfway up to the wires did I feel something fall from one of my pockets, the metallic clanging of it hitting one of the support beams spelling out that it had not been a figment of my imagination.

"Shit, I dropped the carabiners!" It didn't take long for me to recognise what it was the moment I glanced down, but Jane's body still guided me upward away from them.

"It's fine, I still have mine" She told me, helping me scramble up that last bit to the wires. As Jane started to dutifully clip her carabiners on, my hands soon came to join hers in the oversized metal grooves so that she wouldn't have to carry my weight like Troy and Nick. "Goddamnit, why can't those two have gone faster?!"

Reggie and Mike still seemed to be about halfway down the zipline by the time we were itching to go, and the sound of people shouting from the opened rooftop door meant that we risked getting a bullet if we waited any longer. Sincerely hoping that the wires were able to handle more weight than it had right at that moment, I tensed my legs and pushed off - with Jane jumping along with me without a single complaint.

One of Carver's people attempted to fire at us as we zipped down, but the bullet sailed clear over our heads rather than hitting either of us in any capacity. My eyes couldn't decide which dangerous thing they wanted to stare at, the encroaching walker horde (that came closer to the store specifically because of the explosion our bomb caused) or the rapidly lowering wires.

It turned out that my hope hadn't hit true; as the moment we were right over the middle of the horde, there was an extremely loud _TWANG!_ before the right wire came loose under our fingertips. The left wire did it's best to hold us for a second longer, but soon it failed to take our combined weight of four people, another loud _TWANG!_ spelling our doom; an immense sinking feeling cascading over our bodies as we plummeted the last amount of distance to the ground.

From the momentary glimpse that I saw of Mike and Reggie, the both of them crash landed into a nearby tree with a heavy crashing noise, but frankly that was far preferable to Jane's and my predicament; slamming right into the top of a walkers head. My right foot took the brunt of the impact yet again, flattening the soft skull and putrid brains into a mess - before Jane and I inevitably rolled off and collided into the two nearest walkers lingering nearby.

The force of the crash wasn't enough to separate us from the duct tape binding us together, causing our collective weight to shunt aside the walkers rather than bounce off them. It at the very least managed to give us a moment to recover from the blinding pain in our lower halves, and to stop the world from spinning.

"Prim, left!" Jane evidently recovered faster than I did, as she hurriedly told me of an approaching walker. While I was unable to see much through the momentary blur in my vision, I was able to grope around with my hands until I could yank my axe free, swinging wildly to my left. My weapon clearly hit something, as evident by the momentary resistance and the following sound of a walker toppling over.

My vision cleared at the worst of times, right as a bunch of walkers looked like they were going to be barreling down on us. I was able to swing my axe into a skull after Jane dodged to the left, but we were only going to dodge them for so long before one got a limb or neck out of either of us.

But this time my gut wasn't flaring up in a warning for my life, as shortly after we tumbled out of the sky we heard a loud bellowing **_**MEU!!**_** come from an unknown location in the woods. That noise was just enough to distract the walkers immediately going for us, which allowed Jane to get out a knife and hurriedly untangle us from one another. Through the gaps in the nearby walkers I could clearly spy a massive creature come charging in our direction through the brush, and I felt reassured when I could spot that it was coloured white with several black splotches.

Bramble came storming through the walkers standing in his way, his massive horns goring any that dared to stand in his way and shoving aside all others. Riding right on his back was Duck and Sam, the former of which expertly steered his steed just to the right to avoid the both of us, and to let Sam come bounding off right in the nick of time to chomp on a nearby walker that got too close to Jane or I.

"Good boy Sam!" I praised the dog before Jane could get the idea that it was some random wild animal that was also our enemy, the two of us helping each other up. With the momentary gap in our right side caused by Bramble's swipe, we now had an opening to go through. "Come on boy, protect!"

"Ruff!"

"Just how many things do you _have_ on your side?!" Jane asked me incredulously as she followed closely behind me, using well timed kicks to the knee to disable some of the walkers coming close to us. I didn't even have to tell her that there was another cow on our side, as soon after Bramble came Maybelle, carrying both Pete and Shawn right on her back.

"Prim!" Shawn managed to easily pick me out, specifically turning Maybelle so that she was able to come by us. Maybelle had some stopping power of her own by charging and subsequently trampling over walkers immediately in her way, and any that she missed were handled by Pete, who would strike with expert timing with his spear. The moment Maybelle was close enough, both men quickly held out their hands for us to grab - pulling us hurriedly onto the runaway cow before we could be left behind.

"Wait, we need to go back for Mike and Reggie!" After finally finding my purchase on Maybelle's saddle-less back, my head couldn't help but tilt to try and find both men who had crashed into the tree not quite all the way to where the others were.

"Don't worry, I think Duck has them!" Pete was able to spot the larger animal crashing through the horde of walkers before I had, and it didn't take one much longer to see Mike and Reggie holding on for dear life to the bull. Sam ended up taking a huge leap upwards, scrambling onto Bramble's back like he had been doing it all of his life, and that was all Duck needed to guide Bramble back into a steady rhythm alongside his mother. "It seems like Operation; 'Rescue Stragglers' is a complete success fellas! Wahoo!!"

The victorious cry was well earned by that point, as glancing back to the Hardware store showed that the people on the roof now entirely had their hands full with the encroaching horde barreling down on them. One would have thought that a literal bunch of cows charging through their midst would have led them to us instead, but the constant firing of guns was something that caught the walkers attention far better.

But to my endless relief, after quick checks of all people that had been dropped unceremoniously, it became clear that we had managed to make it out without a single casualty. I joined in with Pete's cheer, and it seemed that the very universe agreed with me; the sky fluttering and darkening for Sarita and Carlos.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No memes today, but people are free to make their own and share them with me :3


	35. Factory Reset Setting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning; Discussion of rape and descriptions of injuries. Please take heed if these themes concern you

Even after Bramble and Maybelle had gotten to a point where we couldn't see the hardware store, it wasn't quite so simple for us to rejoin the others who landed at the end of their zip-line. Pete, Shawn and Duck had constructed a small hidden camp in a tiny river cavern not far away, so it only made sense that we went to recollect their small amount of supplies left behind there. Jane was able to tell us that the rest of our group was headed to Parker's Run anyway, so a concrete plan was in place.

"Ugh, I never wanted to figure out how bony cows were" Jane shifted her position on Maybelle's back for what seemed to be the umpteenth time, as Maybelle was bonier the further back you got on her back. I was up by her shoulders considering my injury was worse than hers - she got a similar amount of bruising from falling from the zip-line - while Pete and Shawn had slid off and were walking beside her instead to not overload her with weight. "I thought they were ninety-percent fat or something"

"That's the cows in the beef industry, as they often don't get much exercise. Maybelle and Bramble here got a much more varied upbringing, so I was told" Pete knew a fair bit about animals like Shawn did, him twisting a little bit to give Maybelle a scratch behind one of her ears. She seemed to have gotten quite attached to Pete like she was to Shawn or I, tilting her head and giving a pleased noise as she continued to transport us ladies. "We do need to keep moving of course, but Prim, would you mind introducing your new friends to us?"

"Jane's the lovely lady behind me, she's the one who kept me alive in that place" I wasn't kidding about my description of her, as that razor she gave me was something that I made use of - and give me support - in vast amounts. She took the compliment quite well, smiling fondly when I spoke well of her. "That's Reggie taking a ride on Bramble there, and Mike walking next to him"

"Pleased to meet you all" Shawn, despite also being a 'country boy', ironically did not have nearly as much of an accent as Luke or Pete held. Then again, that likely came down to his voice actor more than anything else... And those very same recognisable voices followed them to that new world as if it always belonged to them and nobody else. "The one who was riding Bramble is Duck, and I'm Shawn"

"Our dog is Sam by the way" Duck interjected right as his name was brought up, with the ever loyal dog pattering alongside him - his tongue flapping about with a carefree attitude. Mike offered a friendly hand out to the dog to smell, which Sam did in genuine curiosity for who this new person was. "The old man is Pete, or Uncle Pete"

"Someday there is going to be someone older than me you know" Pete pointedly reminded the young teenage boy, ruffling his hair just to remind him that Duck was not taller than him... Just yet. Shawn cheerily laughed along with the both of them, which served to warm my heart; it seemed that our absence from the six of them ensured that they had become as thick as thieves.

"Oh, we probably should let you know beforehand. Pete and I are both Prim's boyfriends, so we want to thank you all for looking after her while she was in there with you guys" Shawn decided to broach the subject just in case I had recruited others into my circle of lovers, hoping to avoid another jealous spat among new and old people.

I swear, it was the closest Reggie had been to death since I had stumbled into the greenhouse the previous day, as he audibly seemed to choke on his spit the moment he heard my romantic involvement with both men. Boy, if that was surprising for him, then he certainly had quite the thing to uncover when we reunited with the others.

"Wait, you two?" Mike also had a difficult time wrapping his head around it, but that was purely based on the fact that he had heard something else from myself and Carver. Shawn and Pete nodded their heads in different timing to one another, but it was clear from the looks on their faces that it was not a joke. "But... Wasn't Carlos with Primrose?"

"Him too" Far from the concerned attitude that came from the two groups of lovers back in Moonstar Lodge, Pete casually addressed the fact that Carlos and I being together was not a lie. After all, why would the man _want_ to incur Carver's wrath by claiming we had something if we didn't? But they seemed to remain quiet about anyone else and their romantic affiliations with me, ultimately leaving it up to each individual whether they truly wanted to divulge it. "Prim's poly, but I can imagine not wanting to divulge that to Carver"

"Huh" Seemed to be the only thing coming from Jane's mouth, a look of mild surprise in her eyes. It didn't seem all that out there that she had guessed that _something_ was up with how I interacted with the others in my group, but hadn't fit all the pieces of the puzzle together quite yet. But then again, she did not look bothered at all with the news, quite the opposite.

"So... It's like a love triangle, but she hasn't made up her mind yet?" Reggie on the other hand, was not getting it. I could have been patient with him about it seeing as he might have just not heard about it yet, but I was not in the mood for that kind of unsolicited question - I blame my foot, as it was causing me enough pain to take up most of my mind.

"No, that's not what it's like" I was terse in how I spoke to him, a sharp accompanying tone implying heavily that I was _not_ appreciating his take on it. If he really was curious about it, then the polite thing to do was to ask what it meant, not make juvenile assumptions. "It's an agreement among three or more lovers to love openly, in a non-monogamous situation"

"Kenny once said that it was like building a house" Duck, who had essentially grown up around it by that point, come along with more analogies for it in a positive fashion. "More people just means more support beams for the house"

"And the house is the one person in that equation?" Mike asked out of what seemed to be genuine curiosity, but Reggie still looked perplexed. I did tilt my head backwards to see whether Jane was just as bewildered, but she looked as comfortable with the subject as could be; even giving me a small smile when she noticed me staring.

"The house is the entire relationship" Shawn was next to explain it, as naturally he was one of the very first to be in my group of lovers. I remembered those days quite vividly, with Kenny and Glenn being quite possessive in the first days... But now, it really was like an entire family rather than several individuals bickering. "I feel like I can go to any of the others in our circle of lovers with problems, and they'd listen to me with open ears and a welcoming heart. That especially includes Pete now"

"That's the gayest thing I've ever heard you say, and I love it" Pete couldn't help but rib the younger man, and thankfully it seemed to be better received by Shawn that it had ever been by Nick (perhaps because the two of them weren't related, so it didn't feel like a personal jab?). "I care about you too, you doofus"

"If you think _that's_ gay, then you haven't seen anything yet. Just wait until Matthew and Walter flirt with each other" Shawn gave as good as he got, a mischievous glint in his eye when he noticed that Pete was grinning heartily. "Or Prim with either Lilly or Carley, now that I think about it"

"Yep, I'm the entire package" It felt right to thread that little joke of mine into their banter session, and it struck really well with both men who laughed softly in agreement. There even was a tiny snorting noise coming from Duck, who seemed to find it just as funny even if he wasn't directly involved with it all. Jane and Mike seemed to have their moods lifted even more from just how different we were to Carver's group, and Reggie... Was about as silent as a brick wall.

"How likely do you think that Carver would try to come after us?" Jane did pose a good question, even if it momentarily shattered the comfortable atmosphere. Like Larry, Carver's name really did carry weight, perhaps even more so than the former.

"Oh, absolutely no doubt in my mind" As much as I hated to say it, that particular man had a one-track mind for things. "The real question would be whether he could convince even more people to come hunt us down. With him being heavily injured, he would need the support to even walk, and I think some of his people would be hesitant in chasing after a group as large as ours"

There was a murmur of agreement from the majority of others, all except for Reggie. His attitude was rubbing me the wrong way by that point, but just telling him to leave meant an increased chance of Carver finding him; or worse, that someone else - someone worse - would glean my future seeing powers like Carver had managed to do with John. But I suppose there was the worry of that happening as it was. Even if Carver died a grisly death before long, there was the remote chance that one of his followers would take his rambling about my abilities a little too much to heart; ingraining it into their mind for the next nefarious person to uncover... So we did the best we could to avoid such a situation in the moment, by getting as far away from that accursed hardware store as humanely possible.

It didn't take long for the sun to begin setting after a long day of our group of ten trekking through the brush, and it didn't seem like we were going to get to Parker's Run for another day according to the landmarks on Duck's map. Just as we began to worry that we would be easy to spot overnight, there was a building that caught Duck's eye with the last bit of light we had.

It turned out to be an old warehouse building, the kind with roller doors to keep strangers out from the cargo within. Although the interior did not hold any spoils for us when we opened it up, there was the easy option to stay in that warehouse for the night.

"Here, let me help you off her" After assisting Shawn in poking some holes in roof to disperse the smoke from our fire, Pete came over to me to help me off Maybelle. I was about to slide off and use his shoulders to assist me in walking, when I realised that his arms were held out in a way that suggested that he wanted to carry me towards the fire instead.

It only took a cursory glance to his eyes for me to see that he was practically begging me to let him help, waiting with bated breath for my approval. Now that the adrenaline had all worn off and the subsequent worry of getting away had been taken care of, he wanted to do nothing more than take care of me; help fix my wounds, whether they be physical or mental.

"Please" I softly asked for his help, and the relief flooding his eyes was as clear as day. I leaned forward to hook my arms around his neck, and he seemed to handle my weight easily to hoist me off Maybelle's back. Rather than just carry me like that, he even went the extra mile to search around with his left arm and hoisted my legs higher up; carrying me as comfortably as he could.

I was relieved to see Jane walking around without much problem, showing that her injury really was just a momentary bruise. Considering we had fallen a couple of meters, I suppose she could thank the walker we had landed on for taking the brunt of the damage.

"Where are your injuries?" Pete asked me that quietly, not willing to place me down on the ground until he knew what he was supposed to be careful of. It seemed that Duck had yet to figure out that I even was hurt in the first place, as his head sharply whipped around to look at me in horror.

"My left foot" I answered, and Pete nodded. The boot on that foot did look like it was more crumpled than my right, so he likely had made a small guess before he had asked. "Don't worry Duck, I'm not bitten"

An audible sigh of relief left the young boy, as of course there was the chance that I might have been if he hadn't arrived with Bramble in tow. Pete gently lowered me to the floor, maneuvering my foot onto a jacket that Shawn laid down. Shawn made a noise that sounded somewhat between a laugh and thinly veiled sadness, coming closer now that Pete gave me that little bit of space.

"It's always your left" Shawn couldn't decide on whether it was funny or incredibly unlucky (probably both), his hands carefully coming to my boot in a movement to take it off. He was no Carlos in terms of diagnosing things, but he undoubtedly had spent enough time around Katjaa to learn some things. "I'm going to take your boot off to take a look, alright? I'm sorry if it hurts"

With an extremely slow method, he began to undo the laces on the boot carefully. Most of the others watched on with concern or a sense of morbid curiosity - even Jane did, her no longer pacing near the doors of the warehouse - and Shawn carefully shifted my foot so that he could remove the material. No matter how carefully he did that part, the pain was obvious; clearly shown by the way my face scrunched up and my hands tightly wound around my own thighs in a defense mechanism.

My eyes were closed when the boot finally came off, but I couldn't miss the gasp of shock that came from Duck at what he saw. When I finally dared to look myself, my foot had swollen to double the size it normally was, with bright red skin from the blood rushing there to fix it. Shawn even seemed hesitant to place his hands anyway near it in case the swelling would be too painful to touch, but eventually mustered his courage.

Unsurprisingly, the entire of my foot didn't like being touched one bit. Even something as harmless as Shawn shifting one of my toes was like a dull rushing pain into my mind, but I tried my best to not voice any complaints with it... Right up until he started to search further up. At one point during his investigation he pressed down against one of the larger bones in my feet, and the pain slamming into my spine was like Carver had dropped the cinder-block onto it again - my hands nearly shooting out to slap his hands away in response. Worse still, for a bone that was supposed to stay in one place besides at the joints, I could literally feel it _shift._

 _"_...You've got a broken bone here" Shawn was no idiot; he didn't need me to tell him that the bone wasn't supposed to shift in the middle. The only silver lining to find there was the fact that the bone returned back to it's normal position after he let go, meaning that it had that much higher chance to heal properly. "Was this from the drop you guys had from the wires?"

"No, Carver... Carver dropped a cinder-block onto it" I found my throat becoming quite dry and hoarse the moment it was brought up, my mind momentarily slipping right back to the image of being trapped on that chair. It took some forceful thinking of my current mind to remind me that I wasn't back there, that I was safe, to come back from that image. "I... I probably also have b-burn marks on the back of my neck; he tased me so that I couldn't resist"

Shawn seemed unable to process what to do with that information; freezing in place with a horrified look on his face. Pete, well... He already had no sympathy for Carver as it was, but he had far more reason to bury an axe into the dictators head.

"I'm going to kill him" It was difficult to tell whether Pete was making a promise or just blowing off steam, but the murderous intent was clear in every bit of his body language. "I don't care how long it takes me, I _will_ kill him"

"I think you'll have to get in line" Mike wasn't wrong, Pete had quite the competition going for him if he was serious about _him_ being the one to kill him. Even if it was someone not immediately in my circle of lovers, I'm quite certain that Katjaa, Christa, Rebecca, Walter and Matthew would be raring to go if the bastard dared to show his head around us again. "Some guy called Nick did take off his foot, if that helps"

Pete usually was the first one in the game to claim that Nick's temper was 'just like her mothers', often saying that it was excessive and unnecessary. If he still felt that way in the new world, then he certainly didn't show it; a look of pride replacing his own rage for the time being.

"...Do you want to talk about the other thing?" Jane probed softly when she noticed a lull in the conversation, as of course there was still something that had nearly happened. Pete, Duck and Shawn naturally turned their eyes to me, as they couldn't immediately tell what the 'other thing' exactly was. Even if they had the clues presented to them like the others did in the compound, would they still have struggled simply due to their gender? "You don't have to if you don't want to, but the floor is open otherwise"

Quite frankly, the answer to that question was a flat out no. The very opposite in fact, I wanted to completely cast it out from my mind until I could never recall it for the rest of my life. But at the very same time, I wanted them to understand what had happened. Luckily, those two things were not so opposite as it seemed.

"I... Jane, can you..." It felt like my throat was tightening and constricting even as I spoke, finding it near impossible to do more without first closing my mouth and swallowing in an attempt to get it back to a manageable state. "...Can you explain?"

Jane nodded solemnly, understanding that it would soften the blow - equally for myself and for the two men sitting beside me - for her to explain it rather than I. With a small moment passing by in silence for her to try to figure out how exactly to word it, she began.

"Carver tried to coerce her into sex, and likely would have attempted it by force if she refused. Rebecca corroborated her story, as apparently this was not the first time he's tried such a tactic" Jane's explanation sounded oddly clinical in nature, but somehow that seemed to soften it quite a bit for me. Particularly, I was glad that she did not utter the 'r' word. "Troy was standing at the bottom of the stairs to his office, and heard the conversation as it was unfolding. He came up with a lie to draw Carver away in order to put a stop to his plan, and managed to succeed in delaying it, but he subsequently took out his anger on Troy for doing so. This morning Carver called her again to his office, which is likely when these new injuries happened"

"Troy stopped him?" Pete seemed extraordinarily shocked by the mention of who exactly came to my rescue, as of course it was a name that he recognised quite well from the time when he had been within those walls. One look at my face seemed to answer his question whether it really was the guard, as I naturally nodded my head.

"That's... That's kind of why he called me to the office again; because Troy interrupted" While Jane could of course say what happened on the outside, there was little to no chance that she had heard anything directly from the lion's mouth. Now that she had gotten the ball rolling and gone past the part that upset me, it was far easier to recount. "Carver claimed that he - Troy - had 'infected' me, making me combative. The beating was supposed to make me submit to his will"

Even though we never particularly had talked about sexual assault and the like, Duck and I had sometimes talked in the past about not having to do things that we didn't like. It was a particularly big lesson, where I told him that no relationship would be a good one if they forced you to do something you truly didn't like (barring emergency situations, but those were obvious). He remembered it quite well, as evidenced by the fact that he shifted his position from across the fire to between Pete and I, curling around me to hug me softly.

Sam soon came to join him, wriggling in between Shawn until he could rest his snout comfortably on my thigh. I found my hand naturally sifting through his golden fur, allowing his presence to ease my heart.

"I'm..." It had been quite a while since Reggie had spoken on that journey, instead being a silent observer for the most part. The moment he started to speak, I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up in an irritated response (I can imagine my hackles raising, if I even had those in the first place), wondering just what kind of harebrained response he was going to concoct up this time. What actually came out of his mouth however, was far from what I had come to expect from him. "I'm very sorry for what I said back in the hardware store. The... The part where I claimed you might have misunderstood what he was trying to do, in terms of... You know"

That came so out of left field for me that I was struck speechless for a moment, just staring at him in bewilderment. Whether it was because he didn't know what to do with the silence or because he thought that I was waiting for him to keep going, he kept talking.

"It's... I know I shouldn't have, but I was so caught up with the worry of what he might do to us... To me, if we didn't immediately bend the moment he showed the slightest hint of anger" His reasoning did make sense - it was something I had predicted based on his in game character's actions as well - but that didn't particularly lessen the impact of what he had said. "It was the only way I had survived the first time everyone had escaped without me. So, seeing as this was the second time around, I-

Mike had the decency of sharply raising his hand in a 'stop' motion once Reggie started to ramble, as clearly he thought that Reggie had said enough. We understood now why he had done so, and continuous explanation would only sound like trying to condone what he had done.

Even though Mike had commanded that bit of respect in the moment, he didn't speak up about the subject. Seeing as Reggie was apologizing for something that had ultimately hurt me, it only made sense that it fell down to me on whether I would react positively or negatively to it.

"...I appreciate the fact that you've apologised, and that you understand that it was hurtful" Even though I wanted to find it in my heart to make everything positive about that interaction - Reggie wasn't a bad guy necessarily - I really couldn't feel any other way about it. "But I don't feel like you've earned my forgiveness for what you said to me"

"I understand" At the very least, I was quite confident that he was better than what Mr. Parker had been two years prior. Reggie understood that he had done something wrong, and also seemed to accept that he needed to earn back the respect he had lost, seeming leagues better than he had that morning.

Maybelle and her son soon seemed to understand that something was going on emotionally, both animals coming to rest behind Pete and Shawn, softly snuffling my ears and giving me gentle nudges as their way of showing love. Leaning against Bramble's warm back allowed me to realise just how mentally tired I was from everything that had happened that day, and the unpleasant realisation that things weren't even completely done for the second season.

"Looks like you're really going to have to learn how to accept help" Pete sounded like he was trying to phrase it as a joke, but he knew all too well from taking care of me with my arm that it was easier said than done. And an injured arm - a laceration at that rather than a broken bone - was far less debilitating than an injured foot, so who knows how difficult it would be to keep myself out of danger.

"There are still so many people I have to save" I murmured uncertainly, as there still were three glaringly obvious examples of people that I had to take care of. Luke, Sarah, Rebecca and Nick still needed me, and that wasn't even considering what might happen to the six people from the 500 Days once they were out of the hardware store. The game never showed anything for them beyond Bonnie, so who knew what dangers lurked around the corner?

Shawn seemed to be able to recognise when my mind was racing at a million miles an hour, his hands softly coming to wrap around the both of mine to softly bring me back from that state.

"That's what we're here for" Shawn reminded me, his sincerity seeming like a guiding light in the dark or a boat in the middle of a storm. "We're all support beams for one house, remember?"

...Of course. We had all agreed that the house was not a symbolism for myself, but the relationship. Naturally, part of a relationship was wanting to see your loved ones happy and safe from harm, so it only made sense that if I asked them for help - whether it came down to simply being carried around to let my foot heal or to give instructions on how to save people - they'd be more than willing to do that for me.

"You're all such a sappy lot, and I couldn't be happier to be hanging around" Jane was far Molly (a stark contrast to what I had referred to her as back in my old world, as I used to think the two of them were a little too similar), and actually seemed to be on board with the idea of sticking with our group for a while longer. I found myself hoping that would soon change from 'for a while' to 'forever', but understood perfectly if she decided to leave after Carver and his lackeys had no chance of finding us ever again. "Now, get some sleep. Mike and I can take first watch"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I take praise as payment for my chapters :3  
> More praise equals more motivation for writing future chapters, as much as it sounds a little conceited, haha.  
> But hey, can't get what you don't ask for, am I right?


	36. One Family

To my endless relief, the swelling on my foot went down a bit as I slept. It made it that much easier for Shawn to wrap it in some old clothing scraps - to give it that little bit more support - before he carefully reattached the boot to the end of my leg. After carrying me to Bramble's back, it seemed that we were all prepared to go.

I chose to sit side-on Bramble as he strode confidently through the woods, one of my hands idly resting on his nearest horn in case I needed to hold on at higher speeds. By far the hardest thing for me was to ignore the restless butterflies in my gut, forcing myself to sit still even when we encountered the occasional walker drifting around on their own. But there was no need to worry, as even Duck on his own was able to fell the undead long before they came close to my steed - and even if they had, I had the feeling from how strong his horns felt that Bramble could have simply flicked his head to send them flying.

"Are you comfortable?" Jane asked me periodically, making sure that Bramble's gait didn't cause my foot to swing too much. He was surprisingly comfortable to ride, far more than I would have expected, so nodding seemed like the only sensible answer. "You don't look like it; your face screams that you're stressed"

"That's... I think that's more down to the fact that I'm worried about the people who are still in danger" I admitted, as the immediate worry in my mind was whether Nick was keeping himself safe. It was heathenistic to even think so considering my polyamorous side, but Nick was the one person who I _could not_ handle losing. He had become my shining light when I joined the cabin group (and when I had sincerely thought that I had lost everyone else from the first season), that he had elevated in my mind from second best to the one I would protect until my dying breath.

"Well, that's good timing anyway" Pete calmly handled my worries, taking the turn in conversation to pick out the right information from me so that he, Shawn and anyone else could take over my duties when they had to. "Who are the ones still in danger? You had mentioned it last night, but we don't know any details"

"We can likely rule out any of the more seasoned group members, can't we?" Shawn asked, as naturally I had told him that there was generally a single death event for each person... Unless you happened to be a character who died later on after being saved the first time around, that is.

"Everyone except for Kenny and Clementine are in the clear from the old guard, but Kenny's possible deaths are from infighting or a distracted car crash - which are unlikely to happen in this changed timeline - and Clementine doesn't have to worry for another six years or so" I confirmed Shawn's conclusion as being correct, allowing my words and mind to completely veer to the details of the game. There was a split second where I had to ignore the somewhat... Disturbed looks that Mike and Reggie wore, but that was likely normal. I too would look uncomfortable if some stranger were to ramble about my or other peoples deaths. "Troy's in the clear as well, but we should still support him in case his injuries land him into any trouble. Bonnie and Mike are unknowns after more infighting - sorry Mike-

"No offense taken"

"So they'll be fine. Vince and his fellows guards I have no clue about, so keep an eye on them. As for the cabin group-

"Just how do you remember all of these details?" Mike couldn't help but interject for the second time, which was probably for the best considering I was beginning to ramble about everyone rather than single out the distinct deaths on the horizon.

"Some people called me obsessed in my world when I started to talk about it" While previously those words were tinged with a smoldering anger, this time I was able to do so with mirth instead. After all, people here would never see it as a bad thing if it meant that we could avoid any grisly deaths happening.

"I can certainly believe it, considering you crossed time and space to be here to save us" Shawn didn't know any more than I did how I got there, but it was distinctly clear that I couldn't have done it without the Blue Comet to help me out. "You were saying?"

"Well... To keep things concise, there are four people that I am worried about; Luke, Nick, Sarah and Rebecca" Rather than talk about a wide range of things I decided to focus on the short term things that were going to happen, as there was going to be more time later to delve into the long term problems that may crop up. The mention of his nephew's name clearly caught Pete's attention the most, as I could see from the tilt in his head that he was listening even more intently than he had been before. "In the original timeline, Carlos gets shot by a stray bullet as we're escaping the hardware store, which understandably sends Sarah into a complete panic attack. She darts off into a small mobile home area, with Luke and Nick following after her to try and keep her safe. After getting trapped in there, Nick tries to escape to find help for the three of them, but... The player finds him among the dead when they get there"

Pete looked as upset as I felt the very first time I had encountered the scenario, as even the thought of him being one of the dead hurt the heart. It only got worse when you thought about it more in depth, about how scared he must have been in his final moments; with him being utterly alone and desperately trying to claw his way through the fence-

"...Does the player try to help him?" Pete had more questions about it, naturally wanting to know more than the grim prediction could say. Even if that Nick belonged to some alternate universe where he or I could not reach, we seemed to mutually understand the feeling of not just calmly accepting that reality as our own. "I can't imagine that the creators of that game would just have him there - dead - if the point of the game is trying to save as many people as you can"

 _If only_ , I bitterly thought to myself. It was hard for me to recognise at the time, but beyond the first episode of the first season - yep, that early on - the creators were not making a world for the player to save people. After the revolutionary part where you could save Doug or Carley, it was clear that they were trying to tell a specific _story_ to their audience, no matter how much it clashed with their previous model of storytelling.

After that, things were set in complete stone of where the story and characters were going; like being placed on the tracks of a roller-coaster. You could enjoy the view of everything going on around you - maybe even flip a couple of switches to change the colours if it so pleased you - but nothing else changed no matter how hard you tried. Pulling on the brakes, trying to change tracks, desperately reaching your hands out the sides to grab onto the people flitting by... All useless. Even those that they gave you the option to save - Doug/Carley, Ben, Pete, Alvin, Nick, Sarah, Kenny/Jane, Trip/Ava - were just as cruel, like giving a picture to you for a split second before ripping it from your hands moments later.

"...Am I allowed to complain for a moment?" Rather than bury those feelings of frustration and anger, I wanted to desperately talk about them. I had spent far too long burying things inside because my old friends would always tell me that I was getting too upset about fictional characters, but I was tired of doing so.

"As long as you understand that we might not completely 'get' everything you talk about, then sure" Jane gave me carte Blanche to vent my heart out, even if she and the other two new additions were having a hard time wrapping their heads around 'players' and 'creators' of their world. With a gentle wave of the hand from Mike to show that he agreed, I began to unwind the long coil of built up anger.

"Frankly, it's all fucking bullshit. They didn't treat their characters with respect - or even consider what was going to make a compelling story - they just killed anyone off who didn't serve an immediate purpose to the story or grim tone" I seethed, only realising that I still had to watch my language around Duck when I remembered that he was on the other side of Bramble. He wasn't lecturing me about my language in the slightest; in fact, he was studiously pretending to not hear those parts of my sentences and good god, I appreciated that gesture far more than I would have at any other time. "Nick's death was a perfect example of it all. Have a character that doesn't serve a purpose anymore in your mind? Kill them off in the background! After all, the only way we know how to create emotional resonance in our audience is through making them depressed!"

It was that time that I kind of wished that one of them knew what I was talking about, as they were all silent in response to my tirade. They couldn't sympathise with my situation because they had never lived in my world and seen what I had, and they hadn't travelled through... Whatever it exactly was, to reach the new world.

But they certainly could empathise. If there were two takeaways from that long tirade, it was certainly that their lives were not appreciated nor truly loved or appreciated in their creators hands (were they still their creators? Or were they considered to be an alternate universe compared to my original?) and the other being that I cared about them above everything. Even if the Blue Comet had done nothing more than allow me to join the story-writing team for a reboot of the series - and never met them in the flesh - it would have been more than enough for me, and it clearly showed.

"I'm really glad you're here, Aunt Prim" Duck said that at the same time as his fingers softly grasped one of my elbows, a true smile crossing his lips. I hadn't seen one of those blindingly bright smiles of his in years, but it was just as amazing to see after so long of being somewhat dormant inside him. "Thank you, for trying so hard to give us a happier ending"

The one hand that I did not have on Bramble's horn soon came to softly pet the hand he held on me, as I truly loved them all. I was thankful too - both for the fact that the Blue Comet had deemed my wish worthy enough to bring me there, and the sheer fact that everyone had taken to me like a duck to water.

"I'm honestly just mad at myself that I didn't say it first" Shawn chuckled, poking fun at the fact that Duck had done so before him or Pete had done. Pete had a similar wide grin on his face, which I would have spotted on Jane and Mike's faces (even Reggie!) had I turned my head even a fraction to look back at them.

"You're fine with all of this?" Jane seemed to ask Mike beside her, as she didn't really need further convincing considering I had risked life and limb for her already.

"Hey, she's been good to Shel and Becca" Mike was quite the simple man, and my friendly nature towards his girlfriend and her sister was already enough to cement me as an alright person in his mind, long before he learned that I would quite literally ride or die for him and everyone else within my group. "This certainly isn't all that normal, but I'm willing to see where it goes"

"...Yeah, me too" Jane certainly agreed with the latter sentiment, even casting an oddly interested look my way. It may have been jumping to conclusions in my mind, but perhaps her little stunt to get the razor on me was not just covering for the weapon.

Sam and Maybelle looked like they were going to come close to nuzzle me in some manner - as animals often could feel the subtle changes in emotions quite well - when something else caught their attention ahead of us. Shawn and Pete seemed to lift their hands simultaneously as the ones leading the way to halt us, indicating that we had something ahead of us which warranted our undivided attention; a supposedly empty clearing.

It was more than just a clearing, as stepping through the group of trees near the border of the forest led us into a wide open landscape with little bits of snow beginning to litter the ground. To our left was a massive river that prevented us from crossing so easily, but we didn't need to considering the half demolished brick foundations, the single large bronze statue and accompanying placard telling us where we had exactly arrived.

"Parker's Run" Reggie read the placard, which by then had become quite hard to discern the letters now that it wasn't being maintained by dedicated crew. The majority of our attention was being swept across the clearing, looking at the vague remnants of people staying there. In the middle of the buildings was some charcoal - the last remaining signs of a fire - as well as long since trampled tents... But no walkers or people. "Does this look familiar to you?"

"The exact place, yes. Everything else, no. Then again, one doesn't see much of this place once people move on" I wasn't too worried about the trampled tents, as there wasn't even a hint of blood that I could spy on them. With my memory quite easily pointing the way, my hand soon gestured to the brick walls and the arch beyond it for where we had to go. "If things have stayed exactly the same, then they'll be at the observation deck through there"

There was the same sense of butterflies returning in my stomach as we walked around those brick walls, almost urging me to leap off Bramble's back and do something beyond just sitting there... But I firmly resisted that urge. It was even easier to do so when Shawn sidled up beside me in a protective gesture, a reminder that there was someone else who was able to leap into the fray if it was at all needed.

Half of the deck seemed to have collapsed like the scripted events within the game would ensure, various walker corpses being easily spotted under the debris even from a distance. I couldn't help but sit up that little bit straighter, as though I would be able to see further if I did so. No luck however, as it didn't make spotting Sarah (or conversely, ensuring that she was not there) any easier.

"Look in the rubble" I uttered quietly, gently pulling on Shawn's sleeve to show how insistent I was about it. "If... I don't think she's going to be there, but I'm worried that Sarah is there"

My talking was not completely silent of course, as evident by the fact that there was a shift of movement on the upper floor of the observation deck. The person only sneaked a small look at us, in order to prevent any strangers from spotting them, but that very same person leaned out much further once they saw me riding atop Bramble. With the vigor and friendliness of someone who knew us for a long time, they waved excitedly to us and said-

"GUYS!" Glenn called out to us, his ponytail even looking like it was going to blow in the wind if he leaned himself out any further. It started to truly rise to comical levels of excitement when he lifted his baseball cap off his head to widen his waving radius; as though we hadn't seen him already.

Bramble and Maybelle certainly seemed to recognise him, with the former quickly changing from his stationary position to a hefty trot, bouncing excitedly over to the building. Shawn managed to stop them before they would try to ascend the stairs on the far end of the building, as I can't imagine that they had much room up there in the first place.

Rather than make us come to them, the group began to descend the staircase down. If it weren't for the fact I was literally perched on top of a cow his height, then I would have had the feeling that Travis would have leapt into my arms, as he was the first one to start coming down the stairs. My eyes naturally swept through the crowd of people to find the people who were in the most danger... But it seemed that I didn't need to worry any longer.

Nick and Troy were down the stairs before long, the former still carrying the latter on his back as though it was a thing they had been doing for their entire lives. Nick smiled widely the moment he was able to, looking completely perfect as he always had; happy, loved and bite-free. Troy now seemed to have come with several modifications such as a new special boot around his left foot and an eyepatch over his left eyelid like Kenny was supposed to have, but his face wasn't all that much different than before. Any newcomer to the group likely would think that he had another one of his enigmatic looks on his face, but I was quite certain that I could pick out relief and an even more surprising one; happiness.

Sarah was practically in step with Clementine, looking completely panic free due to our safe departure. In fact, she looked nearly as happy as Clementine did to see Duck, both girls coming forward to bombard the teenage boy with warmth and care.

And finally, Rebecca was being aided by her loving husband as the two of them descended the stairs. In their arms was a grey blanket wrapped around AJ, with quiet chattering noises from the bundle. She had given birth to him, and having Carlos and Katjaa with her meant that her pallor looked far better than her deathly grey look from the game.

"Be careful around her foot!" Pete managed to call out before anyone could knock the limb or touch it in any manner, him soon coming close enough to explain it more in depth for anyone who wanted to know more in depth. "Shawn's certain that her left foot is broken"

"You're kidding" Luke sounded like he didn't believe it at first, as I had been walking around with it just the day prior. He only seemed to accept it as the truth when I nodded my head, which caused him to softly touch the grey boot wrapped tightly around said Troy's foot. Despite the group seemingly stopping by the mobile home and civil war reenactment sight, everyone was completely hale and hearty... Which in hindsight made perfect sense, as they then would have had at least twenty people to look out for walkers and people alike. "Darn, Troy's not going to be happy with that; he's already wearing the moon boot we found in the mobile home"

"Give it to Primrose" Troy didn't seem bothered by the idea of giving the moon boot over to me, being incredibly sweet (he probably would have denied it when you pointed it out to him however) by looking after me first and foremost. I smiled genuinely at him to show how much I appreciated the gesture, but his one good eye seemed to look away as if he was embarrassed by that.

"You're certain that you want Prim to wear it?" Carlos did ask him just in case, as of course it was not proper procedure to swap around such a boot often between injured parties. Then again, what _was_ proper in the land of the undead anyway?

"You said yourself that the boot was a 'just in case', seeing as my only problem was dislocation" Troy's face did show some slight bits of pain as the doctor carefully peeled the grey boot away from his foot, but seemed to ignore it for the most part. Carlos' use of my special nickname seemed to remind Troy of something however, as he soon pointed an accusatory finger over at me. "Speaking of you, you lied to me! You said that Carlos was your only boyfriend!"

"No, I said that only lovers used the nickname of 'Prim', nothing else" I corrected him, as I most certainly had not said what he claimed. Well, so much for Shawn and Pete's attempt to keep things under wraps, as Kenny, Lilly and several others laughed quietly to themselves at his remark.

"You!-

Troy paused himself mid-sentence, clearly trying to exactly remember what I had told him. Even in his own memories couldn't corroborate his own story, which caused him to slowly lower his finger in embarrassment.

"...This conversation isn't over" He mumbled under his breath, but decided to not say more on the subject. Nick chuckled, which only seemed to make his noisy backpack more disgruntled.

"So... How many people are your lovers exactly?" Reggie asked, as he could clearly tell that Troy couldn't have been talking about Pete or Shawn in that instance. "Because I know about Carlos, Pete and Shawn at least"

"Wha- Pete?!" Russel asked us incredulously, as clearly he was under the impression that Pete and I had too big of an age gap. "Isn't he in his fourties?!"

"I mean, Prim _is_ a grown woman" Bonnie didn't sound nearly as disturbed by the revelation, sounding... Actually kind of curious about how it all worked between us.

"Oh, uh... " I trailed off a little as I mulled over Reggie's question, as I wasn't exactly sure who could be considered in my group of lovers by that point. There were certainly a number of people that were new additions that gave heavy implications that their feelings towards me weren't exactly the 'friend' kind, but it probably was a bit much to assume that they wanted a relationship just based on those inklings. "Fourteen people at least"

"Pff- Fourteen?!" Wyatt was blown away by the number I threw out there, his head soon turning as he scanned the group around us. "But that's... Isn't that at least half of the people that came with you?!"

"More than half" Lilly was finding the massive shock from the unknowing guards and new additions to be absolutely hilarious. After all, she no longer had to deal with repressing her love for females or the fact that she used to feel left out of the lovers group based on her envy. "Ten in the old group, and four in the new one"

"So that's why so many people were calling you Prim!" It seemed to finally smack Troy right in face why he was catching so many 'accidental' nicknames being tossed around, and I couldn't seem to find any other appropriate response than to shrug my shoulders and giggle at his realisation. "Wait, what does 'at least' mean?"

"It means she's still open for business, get with the program" Jane gladly poked fun at him, giving one of his shoulders a light slap - causing Troy to naturally shout a pained response. Her following words were quite heavy with intonation, something that wouldn't miss me by even if I had been half asleep. "By the way, you mentioned you were into girls?"

"I think Carley and Lilly would be able to back that one up just fine" Sarita giggled daintily, looking as radiant as ever. "Those two certainly gave me the lasting impression that her girlfriends are just as well loved as the guys are"

"As much as this is all fun, I really need to get us back on track" Alvin was the one to bring an end to the lighthearted love discussion, and good timing; as Carlos was just done with removing my boot and slotting the moon boot back over my foot to keep it safe and secure. "Is there any indication in your knowledge that we need to be leaving anytime soon?"

"Considering the fact in the original timeline Carver had his face beat in by this point, I'm not entirely sure" I admitted, hearing Nick grumble slightly underneath his breath. It sounded like he was regretting the fact that he didn't completely finish the job, which was a fair complaint. "I did say to the others before that Carver probably wouldn't come after us due to our large numbers, but this _is_ Carver we're talking about"

"...Was that a euphemism for death, or was that literal?" Becca asked me when I didn't proceed to elaborate on what particular death he got, but a single pointed look from me clued her into what the answer was supposed to be. "Ah, literal. Got it"

"There could be some merit in heading north; it'll ward off more people from wanting to follow after us due to the cold. Wellington won't let us in, but there are some place up North where I know we can find supplies" As much as heading North meant we ran into the risk of putting Luke in danger, it was less likely to make us run into Carver's inevitable search party. That, and the one downside to a large group was the increased amount of supplies that we went through, so we absolutely could not turn down the idea of supplies. "Did you guys encounter a young man called Arvo? Because he's supposed to be trying to drop off medical supplies at one point in the bin upstairs"

There was silence that greeted me in place of people saying 'oh, him', quite the opposite to what I expected. The universe tried so hard to stick to everything in the past, it seemed impossible that he wouldn't have come around to drop off that medication.

"...You know, the one with the leg brace? Speaks little English, talks Russian?" I couldn't help but elaborate, but that same confused look was the only thing that rewarded my attempt.

"We haven't seen anyone ever since we got out of Howe's Hardware Prim" Carley confirmed that absolutely _none_ of them had seen Arvo at all, and it couldn't have been because he was too fast - the guy was extraordinarily slow with his brace. "Doug even checked in the bin when we first got here"

"Other than smelling to the high heavens because of the left behind garbage, it had nothing" Doug could confirm what she said, but it just served to confuse me even more.

Only Carver had shown any indication of being able to do things differently from how the original timeline went, and even that was influenced by his desire to take me by surprise. To top it off, he only knew about it in the first place because I had left John alive (only barely) and the two met one another because of dumb luck. The chances that Arvo managed to the same without either influence seemed abolutely impossible.

"Well, we at the very least seem to have a plan in place until we completely lose sight of that group" Walter was perfectly fine with accepting the new plan, taking over the reigns momentarily to tell others what we were going to do. It seemed only fair, as I was lost in thought with what was going on. "Let's make some headway now that Rebecca is feeling better"

"Go!!" Rose excitedly babbled on her mothers shoulders, punching her fist in the air as we began to pack up and leave.

"You ready to go Primrose?" Katjaa softly asked me, patting my nearest thigh gently to get my attention. I hummed absentmindedly, but I was getting a suspicious feeling about Arvo's disappearance that wouldn't leave me alone.

"...Yeah, sure"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Meridian!
> 
> https://imgflip.com/i/4ob8mc  
> https://imgflip.com/i/4ob8nw  
> https://imgflip.com/i/4ob8oh


	37. Honey Glows

The feeling of being well cared for was something I had missed dearly in the two years I travelled with the children. Clementine and Duck did their utmost, but even they couldn't completely fill those shoes that had been left behind.

It began with something as simple as lighthearted disagreement amongst many people about who was going to be the one carrying me. After it was finally determined to be Kenny out of everyone, he came and carefully took me off Bramble's back - who seemed to react with his very own protest by mooing in an irritated fashion and waving his horns around - before I was nestled into his back and we made way for the distant town across the river.

Even the act of being on high alert seemed not necessary, as my single pair of eyes was nothing compared to the veritable army that surrounded me. As such, the entire days journey didn't need my input in the slightest. It was... A weird feeling to say the least.

"I can't for the life of me remember a time when you were daydreaming" Kenny spoke to me as the sun was beginning to set on the horizon, causing me to rest my chin gently on his shoulder. Even something as simple as that gesture was intimate, a magnificent feeling that only could have been due to him truly existing with me in that moment in time. "Even back when it was just you, I, the kids, Katjaa and Shawn, moments like this were rare. You somehow always looked like your mind was racing a million miles an hour"

"...It probably was" I admitted softly, remembering the town of Macon and the people within it vividly like it had happened just the day before. "Not only was I keenly aware that I couldn't tell you guys about my knowledge, but after narrowly saving Shawn from the tractor I became so worried about what might happen if I wasn't planning for everything"

He was pretty quiet after that admission, as there likely was a part of him that wanted to deny part of what I said. But even though he already had been enamoured with me back then, the notion of completely trusting a strangers word - whether they were attractive to you or not - about travelling to another world to alter reality was highly improbable.

"I'm... I'm glad you finally feel you can trust us to take care of you, just like you took care of us" Instead, he seemed to settle for those words; his mullet softly brushing against the side of my head as he looked away for a brief moment. If I had to make any guesses why he refused to look at me, it may have been because his following words were especially hard to say to me. "But most of all... I'm glad you came back this time"

I didn't need further clarification to tell what he was referring to. The specific inflection in the words 'this time' could only mean that he was talking about the moment when I jumped into the river, and how they might have had flashbacks to it after I got separated coming out of the hardware store. If it came down to it, the entire group of people from the first season would have chosen to wait around for weeks on end again if it meant that I and the others could find them again... But as luck would have it, I was hoping they would be waiting for me.

"I'll never stop looking for you all" I made that solemn promise to him, as I felt they deserved to hear it after all that time we had spent taking care of one another. His head turned back to look at me, that open look of vulnerability in his teary eyes... I knew it well by then, but it always was a brilliant reminder; they were alive. "Even if the entire world were to scream at me that you guys are no longer here, I'll always look for you"

His hold on my legs only seemed to tighten, the tears threatening to spring forth from his eyes. It was nostalgic in some manner, as it reminded me of the very first time the first ever time I had completed the second season. The only natural choice in that moment seemed to be my own arms doing a similar motion around his shoulders, hugging him as tightly as I could.

We travelled a ways further even as the sun began to leave us, making it difficult to see where we were going. We weren't going to be having another camping trip in the woods however, as the sight of man made objects seemed to interest people far more than the endless array of woods. It was a long abandoned power station, with various electrical junctions and poles poking out in differing directions; looking familiar to me despite it being no more special than any other thing left behind by the generation before us.

"Is this place safe for us to stay for the night?" Luke softly asked me that, likely wanting to have my input before they made any concrete decisions about it either way. While the fencing was full of holes, I nodded my head simply because I knew the universe wouldn't particularly try to ambush us there; it was one of the last safe havens in the second season after all. "Perfect. We'll make it the coziest power station you've ever seen"

"I should probably help out as well" Kenny remarked, carefully making his way through a particularly large hole so that neither of us could get caught on the sharp ends. Once we were safely inside, he knelt down so that I was able to carefully climb off his back, allowing me to rest against one of the defunct power boxes with the utmost care so that I would be able to get some rest if I so chose. "Give a yell if you need anything"

"Would you be willing to look after Rose while I look for firewood?" Carefully weaving around Kenny as he was leaving was Christa, her daughter looking fast asleep in her arms. Toddlers needed far more sleep than I really had ever expected, but one saving grace naturally was that we had plenty of people to watch over her if she happened to nod off during the day.

"Of course; I want her to think of me as someone she can trust just as much as you and Omid after all" I was more than willing to babysit her, carefully taking the sleeping girl from her mother when Christa handed her to me. It took a bit of adjusting with my hold on her - Clementine had never been so small - but once I had her softly nestled against my chest it was perfect.

It seemed that Kenny and Christa weren't the only ones thinking of dropping off someone in the middle of the power stations grounds, as Nick soon began to make his way through the same hole as the other two. Nick wasn't nearly as careful as Kenny however, as evidenced by the sharp shout coming from the man he was carrying in.

"Ow! Man, be careful!" Troy complained the moment the piece of wire fence was no longer digging into the side of his head, one of his bandaged hands coming up to carefully inspect the place it scratched him. The crisp white bandages didn't come away with blood, so it seemed that it was merely skin-deep. "I'm not a piñata, you know"

"Of course not; piñatas are way better simply because they drop candy" Nick yet again sounded like he knew exactly how to react to the verbal barbs that the other bore so often, by snarkily responding to it in kind. I had discovered that reacting in a kind manner also worked, but it likely would take the others much longer to figure out that method. "Here, watch over Prim and the little one"

I could distinctly hear Troy muttering to himself that it was more likely that I would be watching over him rather than the other way around, but Nick seemed to pay it no mind and carefully kneeled on the ground anyway so that the other had an easier time climbing off him. Even with the proximity to the ground, it was clear that Troy was having a much harder time - grunting in pain as he dragged his lower body across the ground until his back came resting practically beside me. After Nick handed a spare pistol over to Troy (who subsequently swatted it lightly so that it landed in my lap instead), we were left in relative privacy amongst the two of us.

"Guh, my fucking arms" Troy hissed as he tried to get his arms comfortable, especially after he just had to use them to drag his entire body. I didn't do much more than curl my hands around Rose's ears, both to block out the sound of him swearing and so that his noises wouldn't possibly wake her up. It was only when he finally got himself comfortable that he dared to glance in my direction, his single eye periodically glancing down to the boot fastened around my foot. "...So, how does it feel to be part of the burden club?"

"We're not a burden to the group" I immediately countered his remark, as I didn't think there was going to be any way that the others would abandon us. I truly believed that.

"That's easy for you to say; all you've got is a busted foot _and_ you've got at least fourteen people who would quite literally kill someone for you" Troy snorted dismissively, clearly giving the strong impression that the 'burden club' was something that he had made up entirely for himself. Perhaps he had been hoping that I would agree on myself being a burden simply so that he wouldn't count himself the only one. "Look at me"

Look I did, my eyes sweeping slowly over him as he sat there. With a missing eye, hands and arms that seemingly couldn't do anything without causing a massive flare-up of pain, as well as legs that were unable to hold his own weight, it did not paint a pretty picture.

"I'm a liability, and not even a walking one at that" The sigh coming from his mouth sounded so defeated, as if he knew this was the end of the line for him but that his mind just hadn't accepted it yet. "To top it all off, there's only two people in this group of yours that even remotely might care to vote in my favour, but that's a pitiful number compared to everyone else who probably are wondering why they even saved my life in the first place"

"You're not giving everyone enough credit in here; the sheer fact that you prevented Carver from laying a hand on me is already enough for people to like you. And they didn't even know that when they did save you - which might I mention, they absolutely would not have done if you were at all reprehensible" I didn't dare even pause to think, as I knew that any stretch of silence would make him think that I had no argument against it - or worse, the notion that I might even _agree_. He responded to those words by humming quietly, as if he was reluctantly admitting that I had a point with that one. "And considering I'm holding a literal toddler to my chest, as well as another baby being carried around as we speak, I highly doubt you contribute less than they do"

"...Yeah, well, most people consider babies to be cute" That had to have been the weakest excuse I had ever heard in my life, and I couldn't resist the urge to compliment him.

"You're cute too" There was no trace of cynicism nor sarcasm in that remark of mine - just pure adoration coming through my tone, body language and bright smile - and I could have sworn that I heard him mutter a response to it quietly.

"...Talk about the pot calling the kettle black"

"Besides, you'd have three people voting for you, seeing as I will defend you until my dying breath" I had long since decided to add Troy to the list of people that I would stubbornly protect, a far cry from how I would have treated him if he was anything like his game counterpart. The two people he was referring to might have been Jane and Vince (if my theory was at all correct), but they certainly weren't the only ones.

"You already were counted in the two, idiot" Even though his words seemed quite acidic on paper, the affection said behind the final word implied it was more of a teasing nickname. But seeing as he was admitting that I had quite the sway in the group, the simple act of me vouching for him completely nullified any potential worry that he would be abandoned at the next available chance. "Fine, fine. You win; your group won't leave me to die in a ditch somewhere. But they'd better not be expecting me to turn into a lovable flower child"

"I think they'd sooner accuse you of having a fever if you acted that way" I laughed as I said those words, as the mere fact that Troy was nice to me still struck some people as odd. Thankfully his worries seemed to have been settled as best they could, as his own chuckle joining mine was a blessing in itself.

If Troy had been hoping to keep his happier attitude a secret for longer, then he was sorely out of luck when the rest of the group started to come walking through the open fence; clearly done with their search of the surrounding area.

"Uh oh, looks like we might be having another addition to the roster of lovers" Omid truly had settled down from the spat he had with the others back at the lodge, as he took the fact that Troy and I were getting along to be nothing but a good thing. But being the jovial person that he was, that didn't mean he was going to miss the chance to make a joke out of it. "Lucky number fifteen"

"Fat chance of that pal, love's not my style" While seemingly alright with lightheartedly flirting with me, it was clear that the idea of being called a 'lover' of mine was a step too far for Troy, the injured man beside me hurriedly fixing the preconceived notion. I couldn't deny that I was a little disappointed to hear it, but I understood that it simply was who he was.

"Yes, yes, we get it; you're dark and moody" Lilly seemed to misunderstand what Troy was saying, clearly implying by her fingers imitating air-quotation marks that she thought that Troy was simply trying to maintain an image of being unapproachable. Vince was nearby however, so it meant that it didn't have to come from Troy or I to correct it.

"No, he's being serious" Vince didn't sound like he was particularly angry about needing to correct the others, as neither he or Troy had particularly talked about their lack of romantic or sexual attraction with anyone else but me. "Just like I don't experience that 'spark' of having a crush on someone like most people, he doesn't feel love"

"I can certainly confirm the latter" Even Jane piped up, which nearly caused me to snort in laughter. If I had picked up signals correctly from the both of them, then they certainly had been intimate enough with each other to know such details like the back of their hands... Then again, Troy had no clue about her being into girls, so maybe that was assuming a little too much.

"Oh, that's my bad" Lilly apologised quite swiftly, and just like that any sort of tension on the subject dissipated.

"Neat, it's great that you feel comfortable enough to embrace that part of yourself" Doug naturally was quite welcoming about it, but Troy was beginning to look like he didn't know what to do with everyone casually accepting that. Clearly an entire group of people not batting an eye was the exception, not the rule. "Am I allowed to ask whether you're fully aro, or is it a kind of grayromantic?"

"I, uh..." Clearly never having delved much into the topic, Troy looked extremely confused by the shortening of names and new terms. But even worse than that, everyone was naturally looking at him because of the question being directed his way... Which he seemed to not enjoy in the slightest. "I, well- Isn't it rude to ask that without volunteering your own information?"

"Fair enough" Doug wasn't bothered by the question being turned around to go back to him, and Troy looked relieved because he initially thought that Doug was just casually going to ignore it rather than answer it openly. "I'm pansexual myself"

Considering he was being so open about it, several other people started to go after him as a matter of course; either because they wanted there to be no confusion about their own differing orientation or simply because they were proud to be that kind of person.

Bonnie and Sarita were the next two to offer their insight into their pansexual nature, likely because of Doug's own sexual orientation just before them. Ben, Carley, Jane and Lilly went after those two ladies, with the former three talking about being bisexual while Lilly proudly proclaimed that she was lesbian... Which was so much cathartic to hear now that she didn't have to hide it from disapproving family. Matthew and Walter were obvious by how cuddled up they were being with each other, but Wyatt admitting that he was gay was something new to the people who hadn't met him (and me, as it had never been even hinted at within the game). Carlos didn't blink an eye when Sarah chipperly added that 'girls were really cute', showing that he was a good dad by either knowing it already or simply accepting it the moment he learned about it. Omid and I were still always going to be 'poly-buddies' - which we boasted about like it was a badge of honour - but the one really taking us by surprise was Pete slowly extending his hand up.

"Uncle Pete?" Nick seemed to one of the first to acknowledge his relative's hand being up, but the moment the spotlight got metaphorically shifted over to him, Pete seemed to get just as shy as Troy had been just a moment before.

"...Actually, could we skip over me for now?" Pete's voice was very quiet, so much so that several people actually had to strain to hear what he had said in the first place. But the message was clear; Pete was either too uncertain or self conscious to mention it in front of everyone.

"That's fine, you don't have to say anything you don't want to disclose" Carlos smoothly swept away that conversation before it could make anyone particularly uncomfortable, clearly able to read the air that some people actually wanted to stop talking about this subject. "You too Troy"

"...Thanks" The latter of the two men mumbled underneath his breath, but at the very least doing it loud enough that people could hear him.

With the momentary lull in conversation, I turned my head around to peer out into the rapidly dimming light. Part of being at the power station reminded me of Arvo again, even if the exact events of the game weren't exactly great for him there.

"Are you looking for that missing person you mentioned before?" It seemed to be that Rebecca had unlocked the 'motherly instinct' side of her now that she held her son in her arms, being able to tell quite easily what I was thinking of the moment she saw my wandering eyes. As much as lying to her felt like the easy option to not worry anyone, it was not quite as hard as I thought to nod my head to her. "Luke and Mark are taking first watch, you can be certain that they'll be looking for him"

"I know, it's just... The universe has never really been one to do things spontaneously, if that makes any sense" It still bugged me somehow, as Arvo being missing from that location was just as big of a problem in my mind as Carver being able to act unpredictable; worrying at best and extremely dangerous at worst. "If I hadn't shown up, it probably would have just gone exactly as it had originally"

"How..." Shel seemed to have a question in mind, but hesitated long enough that she felt she had to begin again lest she nervously stammer. Mike was still beside her like I had expected, but even his presence couldn’t get rid of the nervous feeling that she carried with her. "How many people would be dead by now if you hadn't been here?"

My fingers drummed against one of my thighs as I began to count in my mind. It felt like an incredibly cruel thing to frighten them with the actual number, but part of truly trusting them to do things for me meant that they had to know as much of my knowledge as they could handle... And that meant both the good and horrifically bad.

"Out of everyone here, I think thirty-two" The moment the words slipped from my mouth several people naturally looked horrified with the result. Even those within the first season people had certainly heard me say things like that, but they likely had never really decided to keep count like I could. "The only people who make it here in the original timeline are Clementine, Kenny, Luke, Jane, Mike, Bonnie, AJ and Arvo"

It seemed to be quite common for those who 'didn't make it' to look horrified, especially so when the realisation that those deaths of theirs likely would not have been anything but agonizing. Even the ones who did originally survive didn't look much better, looking for the people they really cared about in a relieved gaze that clearly implied that they were glad that they were still here. Clementine looked for Duck and Sarah, Kenny for Katjaa, his god son and Lilly, Luke to his best friend and Pete, Mike to Shel and Becca, and finally Jane to Troy.

"Who's AJ?" Alvin was the only one to bring up his sons name suddenly being brought up, and I very nearly stared at him like he was an idiot. But the joke was on me - _I_ was the idiot - as of course the two of them hadn't decided on a name yet in this altered timeline.

"Oh, It's... It's what Kenny and Clementine decide to name your son after you both didn't make it; Alvin Junior" I told them that, as it had become such an ingrained habit to call him that. Some people rolled their eyes at Kenny's unimaginative naming style, but it was something that I likely was going to have to forget before long. "If you decide on something else, I'll make sure to not accidentally call him that"

Rebecca and Alvin looked at each other, a small look communicated through their eyes that I couldn't quite decipher. It was something that only they knew from being married for so long, so others naturally couldn't understand it as simply as they could.

"Alvin Junior" Rebecca repeated the name, as though to fully plant it in her mind and to get the pronunciation just right. "I think it'll suit him just fine"

"You don't have to take it just because I called him that" I laughed nervously, as I really didn't want to force either parent into choosing a name they hated just to go with the status quo.

"Honestly, we would have been going back and forth forever before settling on a name" Alvin assured me, so I dialled back on my insistence that they had to pick another name. In the long run, it was a familiar and heartwarming name to me, so them sticking to it sat well with me before long. Even more so, Alvin had finally let go of his reluctance to trust me on the dangers they might face in the future; as when he lifted his head to look at me there was only a fatherly smile directed my way rather than doubt. "Besides, it's good to hear you finally talking about what you know, without you seemingly having to walk on eggshells around us"

He certainly had a point; no matter how much I got along with certain people, there always was that odd feeling that I was trying to keep them at bay when they had no idea on what I could predict. It had been a blessing in disguise when Clementine and the others from the first season could pick out that something was wrong, as well as the sheer fact that everyone within Carver's camp knew about it from Carver's loose lips; as it now meant that I was able to speak about... Everything. Not the things that I thought they should know nor the things that I believed painted things as 'alright' in contrast to the dark tone of the original, it meant _everything._

"Seeing as we have plenty of time to rest before tomorrow morning, why don't you tell us your story?" Shawn offered that potential option to me, his hand slowly stroking over a tired Maybelle's head - the animal resting her head on one of his thighs in a relaxed manner. "That way everyone who wasn't there can learn about what you've gone through, and everyone else can finally learn just how you saw things through your eyes"

...And honestly, I loved that idea from the bottom of my heart. Starting from the beginning, I began to tell the story of who I was back in my old world and how I had come to love each individual person there (as well as those we hadn't met yet). Before long the confusing tale of the Blue comet was brought up, and the subsequent trip into the land of sleep that allowed me to wake up under Clementine's tree. In hindsight the belief that I thought everything was a dream was not as outlandish as I thought it was, as the majority of them agreed with me that they would have thought so too if they were in the same situation as I was.

It wasn't long before the sad tale of losing Lee came up... To my surprise, people were very sympathetic about a man they had never met - nor even knew existed within the first place - and that feeling only seemed to grow when I took out his picture and shared it around the vast circle of people. Once they saw his picture, registered truly in their minds that he was a real person who had existed and had meant the world to me, they seemed to understand my promise after his death. After Lee, I had promised to myself that I would not let anyone die if there was any way for me to save their lives; which before long meant that I had the courage to keep going even after Lee was not going to be by my side.

The more I started to talk, the more I could see that I had caught their attention completely. With the occasional addition of firewood to the tiny fire nestled in the center of it all, it soon started to become like times before the dead were walking. My happy interactions were like the happy little tales some would whisper around a campfire on a camping trip, while my descriptions of their possible deaths hung about in the air like spooky stories (with the proviso that they were partially true in other version of reality).

Before long I could feel the constant pressure of someone leaning their head on my left shoulder, Troy falling asleep long before the others. Carlos gave me a soft smile, before assuring me that it was good for him to get some rest even if it meant he'd have to hear the rest of the story some other time (good thing too, as I wasn't sure how pleased he would be with his particular death).

By the end of my long tale several people looked ready to turn in - each one giving their own special way of saying goodnight before getting comfortable where they lay. Perhaps because of the man and child resting their weary heads on my body, I remained awake for just a while longer and listened to the sound of people breathing softly as the fire died down to warm coals at our feet.

"Is this power station off?" I could hear Mark whisper to Luke at the point where they likely believed that everyone was asleep (or at the very least, trying to).

"If you touch it and it shocks you, make sure to do a jig"

In the vague dim of the coals, I could make out Mark roll his eyes at Luke's response, clearly able to tell from the latter's joking tone that he didn't think it had any sort of electricity running through it. With a careful set of hands, Mark climbed up one of the larger power boxes to keep a steady eye into the dark for any dangers - regardless of whether they were undead or alive.

Luke's eyes soon turned to look over us in the dark, and seemed to pick out that my eyes were still open. Correctly identifying that I was awake, he came around the outer edge of the circle to sit beside me before I would join the others back to sleep.

"Hey" The single word was heavily influenced by an adoring tone behind it, Luke's fingers softly coming to rest against my right thigh at the same time.

"Hey to you too" I paid special attention that my own voice wasn't loud and that it wouldn't make my chest vibrate all that much, but still wanted to spend some precious spare moments with my lover. "Happy birthday by the way"

He looked surprised, as it must have been something that he hadn't been counting himself in this new reality. But after a small amount of counting on his fingers, Luke realised that it was well and truly his birthday by that point; the old watch barely visible on Troy's wrist telling us that we had well since passed over midnight.

"And you don't even have a bullet in your leg" While I had been partially joking about that one, I was extremely relieved to see that he was not injured in any manner. No Arvo did mean that we wouldn't encounter his group of ill-timed revenge seeking Russians after all.

"Is that why you were worried about that person being missing? Pete did say that you were worried about some danger that I might be in" He asked me, and I carefully nodded my head to say yes but equally not shift my shoulders enough to knock Troy's head off. Luke's hand soon shifted from my thigh to softly cover one of my own gently holding Rose to my chest, pressing a soft kiss to my cheek to reassure any worries I might have. "I wouldn't dare leave you, I can definitely promise you that"

"Just... Just don't you dare try crossing an icy river to get to a ramshackle house" I laid out the specific way that I could lose him, and I could tell from the look on his face that he took every word seriously - like the gospel. "And if have to, make sure to trust in everyone"

"I promise" Luke made that solemn vow, tilting his head until he was able to press his lips to mine in a soft kiss.

With him remaining on the other side of me as the night crawled on, it made me that much more confident into the following days events. I used to say that nothing would stand in _my_ way of getting their happy endings, but now the universe had much more to contend with; as this time, nothing would stand in _our_ way of that bright future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have this very special formulated vine joke, as I do much better with those lately than memes!
> 
> Carver: Hey, how y'all-  
> Nick: *Aggressive yelling, axe waving and snarling*  
> Carver: *girly scream* GET YOUR FUCKIN' DOG, BITCH!  
> Prim: He don't bite  
> Carver: YES HE DO! GET-


	38. Buried Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My Russian has been translated from google translate. Please feel free to give better translations if you know better ones

We awoke to a wonderful blanket of snow covering the ground rather than the little bits we had seen the day before, truly heralding the arrival of winter. Our night watchers had done an admirable job of keeping the fire alight so that we wouldn't freeze overnight, but it still meant that the feeling of being snugly pressed against Troy was something I didn't particularly want to leave anytime soon. Thankfully, when Bonnie came to retrieve me her back was equally comforting and warm, so it was easier to transition into the day than I thought it would have been... Troy did bitterly complain though, something that Luke quickly got accustomed to when he took over for Nick that day.

The sound of snow crunching underneath people's feet seemed to be the only new addition to the day, as for the first two hours of the day there was not much else to see through the trees. Even the mild chattering among members of our group was quiet and full of familiar things - some people explaining the parts of my story that some sleepy people had missed the previous night or the night watchers swearing up and down that they hadn't seen anyone when the sun was under - which I filtered out once I was certain that I didn't need to focus on it.

My intermittent vigilance was rewarded after the second hour passed, the ever so quiet sound of something in the distance seeming too unnatural compared to the typical stillness in those snowy woods. Granted, I was not the only one to hear it; Pete and Carley managing to catch the noises and quickly getting the others to quiet down. Without the extra filter of conversation to get in the way, everyone else heard it before long... The equally unsettling and familiar sounds of a somber melody; crying.

Many people turned their eyes or heads to me in order to discover whether this was something familiar, the subsequent confusion on my face and soft shaking of my head were clear signals that it was not in the slightest. With a careful hand gesture, I made the pronouncement that I wanted to get closer to whatever it was before making up my mind on whether it was something we would ignore or deal with. Seeing as the others had the same amount of information as I did, they agreed, our group of forty tiptoeing in the direction we thought it came from (with Rebecca, Alvin, Christa and Omid lingering that little bit behind so that their children wouldn't possibly babble and alert whatever it could be).

The closer we got the more we could decipher of the crying. Initially I thought that it may have been a female due to the higher pitch in it, but the more we closed the distance the more it became clear that it was more likely belonging to a younger male - the shrill part of it likely coming from a cracked voice or from emotion influencing it. It appeared unlikely to be a trap set up for us, as the emotions often waned and grew in waves of emotions; something which imitating people often never got right. But one clear thing was that some of the words between the crying were not in a language we could understand, some of the more language proficient people within our group taking a stab in the dark to what it may have been.

"...Is that some kind of Russian dialect?" Katjaa seemed to get the closest, as after the initial guesses of German and Swedish, that was the only one that seemed to get the most agreement from others. It only made sense that she got the closest considering her own European heritage, but my mind was focusing quite a bit more on _what_ language was being spoken than how we got there in the first place.

"Let's get closer" I was far more focused on seeing who it was, as the possibility of this stranger being Arvo were now quite a bit higher than they were before. What were the odds of finding another random Russian person who had gotten stuck in the United States when the world went to utter chaos?

"You're certain?" Russel asked me before long, as naturally he was on high alert. His thoughts would have been wandering to it all being some sort of trap left behind by Carver, making him more hesitant than I was.

"...Yeah, pretty sure" I admitted, as of course there was going to be no situation in this new world where I was one hundred percent certain; things had been proven to change via people like John and Carver. Even so, I felt that we _had_ to go.

While in the game he was nothing more than a loathsome individual considering his group sought unnecessary revenge on people (who may not have even stolen his supplies) and caused the eventual death of Luke, but... Both of those had been arbitrarily assigned to him because of the creators pigeonholing themselves into the situation.

After investigation from some of the fans, it was concluded that the original person we were supposed to meet near the end of the second season was supposed to be Eddie (Wyatt would have been over the moon had that situation come true) stashing away drugs to fuel an addiction of his - with the other members of his group being the 500 Days characters that had not joined Bonnie at Carver's camp. One could only assume it had been cut from the original script due to time constraints and the development team not being able to calculate just how many possible different scenarios could have happened in such a situation.

As such, Arvo was created to fill that spot in order to patch up the massive gaping hole in their own logic. Even with that, it was something that many others including myself agreed would not make any sense whatsoever, but we had to accept it because there was no other choice in the matter. In that new world where there was no strange influences to his behaviour - evident by his lack of hiding drugs in the first place - then maybe there could be hope for him just like there was for Troy.

We neared a decently open clearing in the woods, one that had a single fallen over tree that was beginning to rot away. Far more attention grabbing were the large red patches of snow, the blood trails easily leading back to a single head each and with those heads belonging to bodies that had slumped over in the snow where they knelt. Due to the lack of snow covering any of the bodies and the barely missing pallor in most of the bodies faces and hands, it was clear that it was something that had happened very recently.

"...Whoever did this must have used silencers on their weapons" Pete was able to conclude that much, as there would have been no way that our group could have missed so many gunshots if they were done without them. Even more insidious than that was the fact that the scene was oddly reminiscent of the one he, I, Nick and Duck had seen all the way back at the river by the cabin... Except for the fact that the deaths this time around weren't done for sport. Rather than the vast littering of holes in their bodies, these ones had a single entrance and exit wound via the front and back of their heads; execution style.

Not everyone was dead in that group of four, as there was a single boy clutching tightly to the body of the one female in that group. Peering closer, I was able to spot the leg brace present around his right leg, the light brown hair framing the top of his head and the purple jacket covering his thin limbs... And while his head was down, there was no doubt in my mind that once he raised it that I would see his large glasses atop his nose with his bright blue eyes right behind them.

"That's Arvo" I was able to make that pronouncement without having to get any closer, the others glancing momentarily to me and back to him. My wording had always been ambiguous in the past as to whether Arvo was an ally or foe (truth be told, I'm not even sure I knew at the time which one he was), so none of them made any sort of decision beyond carefully observing him. Even though it was a little harder to pick out, there was a small white revolver left behind in the snow next to him, but it seemed as if Arvo was not at all interested in using it. "...Bonnie, bring me closer"

"Is he a threat?" Lilly couldn't help but ask, her fingers gently tapping one end of her rifle to remind me that we had alternatives if I didn't want to come closer to him. It certainly was the easier option, but I didn't think that meant it was the right decision.

"I... Don't think so" Finally making a choice on whether I was going to try and befriend the young man, I reset any preconceived notions in my mind to a blank slate - accepting this new version of Arvo over all others in my mind. If he still was dangerous, than at the very least I had plenty of backup if that were to come to pass. "I'll whistle sharply if he's a threat, but otherwise please leave it to us"

"I'm keeping my pistol at my fingertips regardless" Bonnie wasn't going to be taking any chances, just as fierce with her gun as she was in the gun when first meeting the Russians. I tried to ease that possible worry in her mind by my hands giving one of her shoulders a gentle squeeze, but it was clear that her priority was my safety above all else.

Carefully crouching through the snow, our set of single crunching footsteps didn't seem to be loud enough to catch Arvo's attention - perhaps even for the simple reason that he was confusing us for a single walker being drawn to his crying and he was completely uninterested in defending himself. It was only when we were a couple of steps away from him that Bonnie paused, clearly not wanting to get any closer to him.

"...Excuse me" The two words coming out of my mouth were enough to startle Arvo into realising that we were not some of the undead, his head shooting up to spot us.

"Ty chudovishche!" Reverting back to his native language while he was frightened and angry, Arvo began to shout what I could only imagine to be insults at us, his left hand reaching out to grab the forgotten revolver in the snow before aiming it in our direction. While it was largely ambiguous which one of us he was aiming the gun at, it was enough for Bonnie's own right hand to clench tightly around her pistol in response. My own right hand just barely managing to clamp over hers before she could return the same threatening gesture, as she had missed something that I had not. "Derzhis' ot menya podal'she!"

"Easy Bon, he doesn't have the hammer drawn back" I told her that, clearly under the impression that he was using the weapon to scare us rather than actually wishing us harm. The longer Arvo had to clear his eyes from the flurry of tears and the cracked lens on the right side of his glasses, the more he began to realise that we were not the people he had originally thought we were. All he saw was two people close by him - one on another persons back - and leapt to conclusions about who we were. "It's okay, we're not here to hurt you"

My left hand started to gently reach out to take the revolver from his shaky hands, all the while softly saying similar words as before; that we truly weren't there to hurt him in the slightest. His limited English was enough to pick out what I was telling him, his breathing gently slowing down from a frantic hyperventilation to a slower version. Once my fingers softly curled around the top of the revolver I could feel that he wasn't holding on all that tightly anymore, his fingers releasing it a moment later when I applied the gentlest of tugging to the top of it.

"There we go, everything is going to be alright" I promised him that things were going to be better now that he had met us, carefully opening the revolver so that I could remove the bullets from it. To my surprise there only was a single one in it, as though someone had left behind the gun for him to use on himself - as there wasn't even the used casings of any other bullets left behind. "I am Primrose, and this is my friend Bonnie. Do you need any help?"

Arvo depressingly swept his gaze around the three people he had been travelling with for so long, as there was clearly nothing that we could do for them unless we had the ability to bring the dead back to life. It did seem like he didn't like the idea of leaving them behind in the snow to be forgotten, as his two hands clenched and began to make movements in the air as though he was imitating a shovel moving dirt.

"You want help burying them?" I asked him again, his head mutely nodding a moment later to show that I had understood his gesture. "I have more friends in the forest who can help with that. Is it okay if they come out?"

"...Yes" His English was the kind tinged with a heavy accent no matter how well he learned how to pronounce them, but it didn't bother me all that much. At the most, I had to listen more intently and he had to speak slower, but we understood each other decently well by then.

Bonnie took the opportunity to stand up and gesture for the others to come out of the woods and join us in the clearing. Arvo had quite a bit more difficulty than her to stand up with his leg brace, and I offered a hand to him if he needed it. Admittedly this did mean most of the extra weight came onto Bonnie than it did for me, but she wasn't all too bothered by it now that it was confirmed that the sole survivor wasn't going to be dangerous to anyone.

"Can we spare the time to bury them?" I asked them, as I knew some people might be a little against it. Considering most dead didn't get the luxury, it might have seemed random to help out strangers to us... But I was relieved to hear Walter spur the others into action.

"I'm sure we can do that for him, can't we?" Still believing in the idea that one should be kind to others when you could (and should), Walter's gentle smile reminded the others that we weren't the kind of people to put survival above everything else if we could afford to do something kind.

Making use of the tipped over tree, Troy and I were placed down so that the others could get to burying the dead; Arvo soon coming to sit on the other side of me when he noticed that my group moved faster without his help. Rebecca and Christa came to sit down on the other side of him as well, the kids taking interest in the man sitting to their left.

"Hi!" Rose greeted Arvo like it was any other day, clearly not completely getting what the somber tone was all about. While I was worried that he didn't want to be talked to at all while his sister and friends were being buried, he did tilt his head to look at them with momentary interest.

"...Hello" It seemed Arvo was quite fond of children, as AJ's curious eyes and Rose's downright upbeat demeanour were enough to give the smallest hints of life into his features. Other than that, it seemed that he was content to quietly sit there and observe his people being laid to rest.

It was not quite as easy as I had hoped it would, as we didn't actually have any kind of shovel or digging implement with us. Because of this, most of my group began to shovel away the snow with their hands in quick motions so that we could reach the dirt underneath it all. Once their hands got cold, they would swap out with someone else and get their hands warmed up by someone else covering them with their own and rubbing them gently.

As the minutes began to tick away, it was clear that we would be there for quite some time to get the dead buried. At one point Troy must have seen a familiar look in Arvo's eyes that he had felt not that long ago - maybe that sense of hopelessness he had talked to me about the previous day - the former eventually working up the nerve to ask him a question that was lingering in his mind.

"What's your plan after this?" Troy spoke slow enough that Arvo could understand him, but the latter only began to show signs that he had heard the former when his head turned slowly to look at the sky in thought. There was no real answer verbally coming from Arvo, but two of his fingers were eventually pointed to the side of his head before sharply drawing them away; clearly imitating shooting himself in the head. "...Ah"

I wanted to say something along the lines of how he shouldn't do such a thing, but it seemed unlikely that my words would do anything else than fall on deaf ears. After the death of his sister he was caught in the throes of despair; something that couldn't easily be escaped from with kind words. It was something that he himself had to get out of, and that was far easier said than done on several accounts.

"What actually happened?" My curiosity won out against my desire to leave him alone, as I couldn't understand how this had happened to him and his friends. Our group had no vendetta against his _and_ we hadn't even seen him until now, so someone else must have done this to them. That guess of mine was well educated, as soon a recognisable emotion burned in his eyes while his lips curled back in seething hatred of whoever had come through.

"Evil man come with his people. Say he is looking for big group of people, get angry when we not know" With enough anger to motivate his need to talk about the things he had experienced, everyone listened intently - even if their hands were full of dirt. "Shoot sister and friends... But not Arvo. Evil man say Arvo is disgusting with bad leg, and that Arvo should kill himself to not... Infect? He then leave gun for Arvo, before leaving"

Long before the descriptions of 'infecting' had been brought up, the mention of an evil man already began to set of alarm bells in my mind. Glancing towards Troy - and from what I could see the others doing out of the corners of my peripheral vision - it seemed I wasn't the only one, as the evil man looking for a large group also ticked off another set of boxes that we didn't need. If there was any time I hated to be proven right, then that was one of the top contenders.

"Was he missing a foot Arvo?" I asked him, quickly leaning down and gesturing with my hand in a sawing motion right above my right foot. Arvo looked a little confused with the idea of that specific man missing a limb, but thought intently on it.

"Maybe. Evil man being carried by other man a lot, but he did kick Arvo's glasses" Arvo's hand lifted to hover over his broken lens, which was heavily cracked by the impact. Even his skin underneath showed some sign of blemishes, which meant that there was the chance that he was going to develop a bit of a black eye before long. It also explained why he had reacted so skittishly to me being carried on Bonnie's back, Carver's position and brown hair would have meant that someone half blind might have even confused the both of us in the momentary panic. "Foot feel hard, not like flesh"

Carver literally stuck whatever kind of object he could onto his injured leg, and went charging off after us the moment he was able to gather a small group of his lackeys to carry him around. Not only that, they had been so bullheaded that they had somehow managed to charge right by us overnight, getting further ahead to reach Arvo and his people long before we could have.

"Arvo, come with us" I made the decision to offer him a place in our group long before anyone else could offer their input, as this real version of Arvo was not going to be left behind by me. "That evil man is called Carver and has done bad things to our group as well. We're planning to kill him if he dares to show his face around us. If you come with us, you can get your revenge"

Arvo mulled that over, as clearly there was still a part of him that believed in the old moral belief that revenge was bad. 'An eye or an eye makes the world blind' was still ingrained in many cultures, but that notion got cleared out of his head the moment his eyes swept back over the graves being dug; right as his older sister was being gently laid in the middle one.

"...There are supplies at nearby house" Arvo already was on board, thinking of a place where we could get more supplies to tide us over until Carver reared his ugly head. But more than that, he likely knew that house like the back of his hand, which meant that it would be a perfect place to ambush our roving problem if they came close. "Is by deep river, can see people for long way from it"

The mention of the river did raise the hairs on the back of my head, as it was the exact one that would bring trouble to Luke. I specifically stared at that man - making sure that he was paying attention to the conversation - telling him that _this_ exact river was the one he had to be careful of. He didn't have an injured leg, but it was still something to watch with strong intensity.

But this was a good plan, as it was about time to put Carver into the dirt. Part of me regretted letting him go the first time, but it just cemented in my mind that treating him and others like him just like we did the St. John's was the right option.

"Welcome to the group Arvo, I'm Kenny" Far from the racist diatribe spilling from his mouth in the game, the two of them were downright cordial now that they were on the same side as one another. That, and there were no creators of this world trying really hard to make everything depressing and upsetting, as much as I complained about this new universe.

The rest of our time there was spent on slowly introducing our new member into the fold without overwhelming him too much, as well as steadily continuing working on the graves to put Natasha, Vitali and Buricko to rest. Nothing would bring them back (just like Lee), but there was going to be something sincerely cathartic about putting that man in the dirt.

"Let's go" After saying our last goodbye's to the three dead, I was safely put on Bonnie's back just like Troy was with Luke. With a higher level of vigilance in our entire group now that we knew what we were going to be working with, we certainly had murder on our minds. "Show the way Arvo"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two vines, for your enjoyment!
> 
> Prim when she goes to sleep and wakes up under Clementine's treehouse: Do you ever like- Like just wake up and be like; What the fuck is going on?!  
> //  
> Arvo: Arvo like accent, where Prim from?  
> Prim: I'm Liberian (English)  
> Arvo: Oh, apologies  
> Arvo: *Whispering* Arvo like accent, where Prim from?


	39. Baptised by Ice and Fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a wild two weeks for me, good lord  
> Rather than go into detail here, I figure I'd make a meme so that you and I could possibly laugh at it. See the silver linings, you know?  
> https://imgflip.com/i/4sgty0
> 
> But worry not, I also made one acknowledging what has kept me on this writing journey... You know, aside from my love of writing  
> https://imgflip.com/i/4sgu1u

Getting to the frozen river took us only an hour after we set off again with our forty-first member leading us, seeming like quite the eye-blink compared to the entire days walk we had done the day before to get to the abandoned power station. Considering the odd nature of us meeting up with Arvo in his new location rather than the abandoned tire at the beginning of the woods, it shouldn't have been all that surprising after a bit of thought.

The half-built house was clear in the distance across the ice sheet separating us, it looking much further away than I remembered it being in the game. That feeling likely came from the fact that most things always did appear much closer than they truly were in settings such as this one and equally because I was feeling daunted to cross the river for a multitude of reasons; the most notable one being the danger it posed to my boyfriend.

Seeing as I was there and we were all armed with the knowledge that Carver may have stormed by at one point - it could have been something as simple as minutes separating him killing the three Russians and the rest of us finding the sole survivor - we were all on high alert. It didn't matter that there was a deadly river underneath, just the mere thought of 'you-know-who' possibly being in the vicinity made everyone's attention as sharp as the blade of a freshly sharpened knife.

While the previous day and last number of hours had been seen as peaceful with the lack of noise, it was quite clear by then that it had twisted into an anxious feeling. Rather than counting our blessings, I was wondering why there was no clear sign of walkers - both visual and auditory - anywhere near us. It reminded me, and doubtlessly many others, more of a spooked forest with silent wildlife because of some unseen danger.

"Luke, don't you dare wander out onto the ice until we have a concrete plan in place" My worries clearly bubbled to the fore when I nervously called out to him, several others diverting their attention to finding where exactly he was. Luke certainly was making good on his promise to be careful; him standing quite a bit away from the icy borders of the river.

"I'm alright" Luke reassured me, shifting Troy just that bit higher on his back to get more comfortable. Even with that soft smile of his accompanying those words, I still was going to worry right up until the moment we were on the other side, and I had him softly nestled in my arms. "Troy would have probably started to shout if I was anywhere near it"

"More like I'd donkey punch you" Troy huffed, as he understood that shouting could only lead to giving our position away. Considering we were trying to get the drop on Carver, the sneakier approach certainly was more appreciated even if it hadn't come down to it.

"That's not what..." Pete noticed almost immediately that Troy had used the wrong term, but started to trail off when he realised that nobody else had corrected the incorrect terminology. When he glanced my way to non-verbally ask for my opinion on the subject, I gave him a gentle wave to tell him to let the subject drop. It could be something that he mentioned in private to Troy some other time, but not when the children were around. "...Never mind"

"Arvo" Sarita gently got the young man's attention, as he likely knew the best way to get over the river. He and his group had come from there not too long ago, so we wouldn't have to rely on the 'walk across and hope for the best' plan from the game, which was doomed from the start. "What is the safest way to cross this?"

"Polzat'" It took me a second or two to realise that, no, he was not speaking an English word to us. Before long Arvo himself realised this based on the multitude of confused stares he proceeded to receive, subsequently deciding to try charades with us again by making wide arm movements in the air. I began to worry about what he was trying to suggest - his movements seemed to look a whole lot like someone swimming - when he seemed to find the right meaning. "Move on stomach"

Far from expecting us to just trust him on his word for it, Arvo volunteered himself to go first; carefully bringing himself down to the ground near the edge of the river before steadily crawling over the ice. His bum leg did mean that he didn't move all that fast, but there were no unruly sounds of the ice cracking underneath him; making quick headway over the river without a hint of danger.

"Alright, then let's do that" Carlos was confident enough that the technique shown to us was the safest one available to us, taking a number of strides to the left so that he would have sufficient distance between himself and Arvo if he happened to catch up with him. With a faster yet careful army crawl helping the doctor across the ice, we now had evidence that it worked for people heavier than a young adolescent.

Alvin, Pete and Wyatt followed a similar example as the one just shown - two of them taking paces off to the right to create a suitable distance while one went further left - before they crawled across the ice. The first lot of five were about halfway across when the next five (Carley, Lilly, Katjaa, Matthew and Walter) went after them, considering that to be enough space without creating overlap. After another two groups of more confident members of my group went, I noticed Rebecca and Christa handing their children over to Clementine and Duck, just in case their lighter weight would keep their own children safe... And it was right then that Bonnie felt she had to deliver some unfortunate news to me.

"Prim, I'm sorry, but... I don't think it's safe if I still carry you when I crawl across" She sounded legitimately upset with the fact that she even dared mention it to me, but it made sense.

"That's okay, I get it. If I was as heavily injured as Troy, then maybe you would, but I can try with my moon boot on" I found one of my hands wandering up to softly tuck away a strand of hair that had gotten loose from her ponytail, intimately hooking it behind her ear so that it would not get in her way. "If someone happens to have a rope in their backpack, then you guys might even be able to throw it out somewhat over the river so that you can pull me across if I need it"

"Vince definitely has one" Bonnie could distinctly remember that Vince would have one somewhere in his backpack, which reassured me that bit more. After all, even if I didn't need it, then it could still be used to pull Troy and Luke across. "Oh! He's going across now. I'll go with him to get that set up"

With that, she carefully placed me down on a nearby rock, before crawling along in the group of five that Vince belonged to. The rock I sat upon was low enough that crawling off onto my stomach was a very easy option, and I found my hands wondering to the sides of it to help push off if I needed to.

...But, just because I could didn't mean that I _would_ just yet. Luke, Troy and Nick were nearby me - clearly planning on being the center person in the groups of five - so there was that small bit of me that wanted them to go across before I did.

"It's alright; I'm going to be right behind these two" Nick explained that him lingering behind was a conscious choice on his part, as Luke had to take across Troy simply because the latter would be unable to on his own. I looked quickly at how many had gotten across since Bonnie left me there, realising that we only had around sixteen people on our side as it was. With Nick behind them and me in front of them, that was likely going to be the best scenario we could get. "Come on, don't be one of the last ones to go again"

There was no way I was going to be doing that again, so I took Nick's words to heart by shuffling off the rock. The moment my stomach touched against the snowy ground I felt the blisteringly cold snow seep into the clothing I was wearing, already trying to sink it's icy chill beyond the fabric and into my muscles. With a grumble escaping my lips, I started to crawl at a fast pace; eager to let the movement and exercise keep me warm.

Out of the snow and onto the ice was much nicer, as the solid object of the ice felt closer to some cold windowpane than anything else. It was actually a little nostalgic in a way; remembering the time I had fallen asleep against the window of Kenny's truck.

I did have to readjust my left foot after a little bit to lean my weight ever so slightly on my right side - that caused the slight pain flaring up from the injured limb to decrease rapidly - continuing to shimmy my way across. Even with my ears peeled for any sign of cracking or shifting ice underneath me, the sounds of other people shuffling across were the only things that seemed to exist in that very moment in time.

Once I was around two-thirds of the way across the river, I paused momentarily. It wasn't to catch my breath like some of the waiting members on the other side believed it to be (as evidenced by Omid telling me to take my time if I needed it), my right cheek pressing into the ice for a brief moment to allow myself to carefully look back.

Luke's group of five people were coming across, but it was clear that he and Troy were taking much longer than the four others. Even with the periodic break that he took, it was clear that his lungs were heaving from the effort of dragging the other person along with him - and that was only made worse by the fact that Troy's weight on his back meant that he couldn't actually breathe normally. From what I could read from the latter's lips, he was apologising for causing so much trouble to us all, with Luke's frantic response telling him to not talk to him at that point; he needed to conserve his breath and energy for crawling. Nick too had been delayed by this, as while he was supposed to be coming along with the final group of five (who were already around the halfway point themselves) he only just had gotten the opportunity to get on the ice himself.

"Prim, throw this to Luke" Vince called out from the other side of the river, my head lifting from the ice just in time to see him fling one end of his long rope out to me.

The rope landed right beside my head, and despite the chill in my arms and hands I reached out to grasp it. Whether by sheer luck or because the universe had decided that we were having too easy a time of it, right as I had turned myself around, a guttural shout came from the trees on the other side of the river.

"PRIMROSE!!" With such heavy emphasis on the 'r' of my full first name, it was clear that the person either had a very strong European accent or were absolutely boiling with rage. There weren't any prizes for guessing which one of those was correct however, my hands hurriedly moving to tie the rope around my midriff with a sturdy knot - as I was damn certain that things weren't going to be solved by just throwing the rope anymore.

As though the flurried snow being knocked off those particular branches were announcing his arrival, Carver came lunging out of the trees with a revolver in his hands and the very same murder in his eyes that we had on seeing him. Him seeing red certainly meant that he was focused quite particularly on me and not the others, as when he aimed the pistol out over the river it was directed far over Luke, Nick and Troy's heads.

While I knew that sitting still wouldn't guarantee that he wouldn't shoot at me, my first initial instinct was to hurriedly duck my head down and cover it with my hands. A moment later the revolver was fired, but the sound of the bullet skittering along the ice to my right meant that he had missed by a decent margin.

The sounds of my own people shooting back from the other side of the river was enough for me to pick out a moment to move, hurriedly shimmying over to try and reach Luke and Troy before Carver could have the idea of storming across the ice himself. If push came to shove, then there was the chance I could grab onto them tightly (Nick too, if his weight wasn't enough to break the ice underneath us), and have some people on the other side tug us to safety.

"Prim, no!" Luke hurriedly tried to tell me to turn back around and not go back for any of them, but there was no way I was going to do that even with the panic threatening to break into my mind. Even Troy was doing the same, his injured hands waving in a frenzied manner towards the others behind me.

"Fuck off, there's no way I'm leaving you guys!" I stubbornly yelled back, worming my way over the ice. From what I could spy over their frightened heads, Nick seemed to understand my plan the moment he saw me tying the rope around my waist, as he too was crawling towards the two men to meet me halfway.

Yelling out my plan naturally had it's downfalls, as Carver's eyes soon darted over to the three men left behind on the ice. While to anyone else they were just Nick, Luke and Troy, to Carver they were the man who dared to question his rule, the guard who stood in the way of his conquest and the man who taken his foot off.

The few people who had followed Carver in the mad chase after us were being felled like deer in headlights, but none seemed to strike Carver as he darted across the snow. Even with his limp making his movements slower than if he were running, nobody dared to shoot in his direction the moment his feet touched the ice, in fear that their shot would stray too far and shoot a hole in the ice underneath us.

Even while in the throes of pain and anger, it seemed that Carver was not completely mindless; as despite the fact that Nick was closer to him he seemed to aim for the most people and stomped around Nick's body to reach the two men beyond him. Nick didn't have the time to grab one of the weapons slung on his back but he certainly did have the time to grab Carver's good foot considering his sluggish movements, firmly yanking it out from under him.

Carver landed upon Troy's back, which subsequently knocked the wind out of both people underneath the villains weight - but more important was the sudden immense cracking noises; the ice giving way and letting the three of them crash into the water beneath.

The ice naturally splintered and started to crack underneath me as well, but my panicked state caused me to ignore it and instead thrust my hands into the unnaturally dark looking water. My arms instantly protested the decision, sending masses of pains signals to my mind from the cold seeping into what felt like my bones. Even with the pain, I was rewarded a few moments later when I could feel two different pairs of frenzied hands tightly cling onto them.

Pulling up as much as I could manage, I was able to at least bring both of them to the surface. With their own strength fueling them through the pain and cold, their heads appeared above water - Luke spluttering on my left while Troy spat out the water within his mouth on my right. Of course, pulling them both out did mean that I had inadvertently dragged Carver back out as well; his eyes clearing much faster than I would have liked.

"I'm going to fucking _drown_ these cunts!" Seeing as neither of his hands were all that occupied, he moved both of them to tightly grasp onto the back of their necks in a threatening manner. Through the slight chatter of his teeth it was impossible to tell if he was threatening or promising to do so, but it was clear he was intending to cause them bodily harm regardless of whether I surrendered or not.

There was no possible way for me to retrieve my arms with both men holding on so tightly - even with one of Luke's hands reaching back to scrabble at the hand clenching around his spine - so I used the one thing I still had available; rearing back my head as far as I could manage before slamming my forehead right into his still sensitive broken nose.

I got some progress, Carver yelling out in pain right as he released Troy in his left hand. But with his right hand still holding onto Luke, he shoved him underneath the water in reflex; a number of bubbles violently breaching the surface as Luke inadvertently released his breath underwater.

Nick arrived right at the best time he could. Even knowing that jumping into the mess that was that gap in the ice was dangerous, he still did so; aggressively attacking Carver by punching him directly in the back of the neck. With the rabbit punch finally causing Carver to let go, I shoved my left arm as far under the surface as I could manage, the thickest part of my arm finding the underside of Luke's chin so that he came back to the surface. Luke thankfully hadn't been under for too long, him coughing up small bits of water from inside his mouth and gulping down air the moment he was back above the surface.

Nick by that point was struggling to get Carver into some kind of choke-hold - but clearly not quite the right way of doing it, as Carver was still able flail about with his arms with no sign of losing consciousness at all - before he was helped by Troy, who slammed the back of his elbow into the man's face as hard as he could manage.

"Troy!" I hurriedly called out to one of the men still fighting with him, soon gesturing to myself with a quick head nod. With Luke still clinging to my left arm and possibly dealing with second-hand effects of being shoved under the water, I wasn't able to pull my hand free from him. This meant that there was no possible way for Nick to be saved, as Troy was still clinging to the other one... Which he thankfully understood quickly, fighting through the pain one more time to instead sling his arms around my neck and dig his injured fingers into the back of my jacket. "Nick!"

Realising that continuing to fight with Carver was a losing battle, Nick finally shoved _his_ head under the surface of the water before stomping his foot into the top of his head; using the extra momentum to push himself through the water and grab tightly onto my right arm.

"GO!" I heard Mike shout loudly once he spotted that I had all three men somewhat attached to me, and I could feel the previously slack rope go taut almost instantly. With the strength of far more than just one person (likely closer to ten, if the intense tugging on my waist was anything to go by), the three men were dragged out of the water... For all of five seconds, before the ice broke under us and we all collectively fell in again.

Focusing on keeping our own heads above water - and quickly holding our breaths in moments where that was impossible - that cycle of being dragged out and falling in continued at least three more times before we got close enough to the shore for people to start grabbing us with their hands.

"You can let go now, we got you" Vince was the one to pick me up, my adrenaline no longer able to keep my body moving at a steady pace and instead sluggishly slowing down due to the cold. The same was for Luke and the others (who were even worse off than I was), Wyatt, Mike and Mark having to pry their hands free of my arms and neck. "Holy, fucking shit!"

The swearing near the end of the sentence became clear when I was cradled against his chest and he began to run away from the river's edge, that Carver was using the now broken ice trail to swim his way out of the river towards us. So much for my claims that his in game counterpart was the terminator, this real version of his was much scarier; pushing through the pain to come and get us.

The entire group seemed to split in opposite directions, clearly seeing the second gun that he drew out from inside his coat and not wanting to find out whether it still worked after his plunge into the river. I was just barely able to tell from the surroundings around me that Vince had decided to seek cover inside the half-built house, that Wyatt, Mike and Mark had followed right behind him with Nick, Troy and Luke respectively... But worst of all, Carver naturally was charging right after us.

"N-No... Th-The house-

"I know, but we don't have any other options" Vince understood that the house frankly was the worst option for cover or escape routes, but going either left or right would have meant that Carver had a direct line of fire right to one of us. This was further evidenced when Carver lifted the gun in his hands, the bullet being fired coming dangerously close to Vince's and my head; splintering an open bit of wooden framing right next to us. "Fuck!"

The ground floor had no real recognisable bits of cover, and it was clear from the lack of stairs anywhere that the second floor hadn't even been started on in this timeline. As such, Vince took the very first thing he saw, which soon seemed to be some stairs leading down further into the house.

"I hope you know what you're doing!" Mike shouted to Vince, as the three of them naturally followed behind Vince simply because they too had no real cover to speak of.

The answer to that statement was no, Vince did not know where he was going. This became further evident when he turned around to face the stairs again, and I saw... That we had come upon a dead end. It was a basement with no other exit, completely empty save for some barrels of fuel that may have been used for a car quite a while ago.

And considering the sound of sloshing, limping footsteps coming down the stairs we had just come down, it seemed like the end of the road.

"P-Prim..." I could hear Nick's teeth chatter as he tried to speak, trying his best to speak despite the fact he was far colder than I was by that point. "I... I l-love-

One of the people carrying us must have tried pulling out a gun by that point, as Carver fired a round into the wall between Wyatt and Vince's heads. Nick silently cursed, but I understood what he was trying to say. Luke gave me a similar loving look in his eyes when I looked towards him, and even Troy beyond him truly looked like he didn't want this to be the end.

"L-Leave 'em" Even Carver was starting to fumble his words with the effects of hypothermia seeping into his mind. With all of his people dead, the chances of him being able to survive was close to zero as it was, but he seemed like he was intent on doing as much damage as he could. "Leave tho' f-four, and I'll let the rest of you leafe"

"No" Vince instantly rejected the notion, actually angling me a bit to the right as though to shield me from the possibility of being shot. The different angle I was being held at made it possible for me to see Wyatt frown intensely at Carver, not at all considering leaving Nick behind despite their bad history (perhaps even _because_ of it). And considering the lack of response from Mike or Mark, they had to have given a similar response.

"Last c-chance" Carver angrily said, clenching his own teeth together to prevent the chances of his chatter interfering with his sentence. My head turned that little bit more to look at Vince's eyes, which seemed to certainly be frightened... But not giving in. Right as Carver seemed to point the gun at Vince's forehead, I spotted something out of the corner of my eye directly behind our pursuer. It was not a mirage, as Vince saw it too; his eyes going from frightened to calm, pretending that nothing was going on.

"Go to hell"

Right as Vince uttered that last curse to him, Pete lunged for Carver, wrapping his arms tightly around his neck right as Carlos grabbed the hand that held a gun in it. Unlike Nick, Pete seemed to know what he was doing in applying the choke-hold; Carver soon uttering choking noises and releasing the gun in favour for scratching at Pete's arms in a vain attempt to get them to release. Once the gun was gone, Carlos reached into his own back pocket and satchel, retrieving... Was that a flare gun and a roll of duct tape?

"You really need to learn when to shut up" Carlos hissed, before jamming the barrel of the flare gun right between Carver's teeth. After ensuring it was well and truly in, Carlos pulled the trigger on the flare gun, releasing the flare right into Carver's mouth.

Had he any oxygen, I imagined that he would have been screaming his damn head off, Carver's hands naturally switching from Pete's arms to try and retrieve the flare. Carlos had seemingly planned for that, as the moment his hands were there the doctor began to wrap the duct tape furiously around the sides of his head and over his mouth, only stopping when it appeared that Carver would be unable to easily pull his hands free nor spit out the flare.

"Let's go" Discarding him like the piece of trash that he was, Pete flung Carver at the fuel barrels left behind in that basement. They likely hadn't planned for it, but took the opportunity as it was presented to them before hurriedly gesturing for the eight of us to follow them out of the basement.

Vince was the last one out of the basement, allowing me one final look at Carver. The barrel he had been thrown against was now knocked over - unsurprisingly - and was leaking copious amounts of gasoline over the floor. Even had that man managed to tear off the duct tape in time and spat it out without inhaling the intense heat and scorching his lungs... Well, he'd meet a fiery death regardless.

Up the stairs and out the front door our collective saviours went, their breaths frazzled due to how fast they were moving their legs to get away. Even some of the others from my group who came back to help us had to be told to get as far away as they could, as there was no saving that house or whoever was left within.

Before long, I got to see it; the most brilliant flume of fire spreading from the ground into the air; all of it's fiery orange hues seeming like a phoenix cleansing everything to it's natural state. Even though he never once stopped running nor looked back, Vince undoubtedly could tell that the explosion had happened from the heat of it soaking into his back. And for the first time, I was certain that I felt him laugh in utter relief.

"We did it... We're all free"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're nearly there everyone! Nearly at the end of this wild rollercoaster of a second book, just one more chapter to go! *Airhorn noise*  
> On top of all that, I have more vines for your enjoyment!
> 
> *The entire group pre-Howe's hardware chilling at the Moonstar lodge*  
> Prim: If it's Carver, tell him to take a number, I'm fucking busy  
> Luke: I think it's bad luck to say his name Prim  
> Prim: I don't think that's how-  
> Carver: WHO SUMMONED ME?!  
> Entire group: *Loud screaming*  
> //  
> Prim: *jokingly trying to make Troy laugh* I have no soul, have a nice day!  
> Troy: I don't have one either  
> //  
> Prim: Hey  
> Her group: ?  
> Prim: I would die for you  
> //  
> Prim: Do you ever want to talk about your emotions Russel?  
> Russel: No  
> Wyatt: I do!  
> Prim: I know Wyatt  
> Wyatt: I'm sad  
> Prim: I know Wyatt  
> //  
> *Minor spoilers for future relationships*  
> Troy: Prim, I had a dream we fucked  
> Prim: It was just a dream  
> Troy: Blech, I wouldn't fuck you  
> Prim: *Disappointed* You wouldn't?  
> Troy: ...I mean, unless you want to  
> //  
> *Carver hiding around corner to scare Nick, Troy, Luke and Prim*  
> Prim: So as I was saying-  
> Carver: BOO!  
> All four: *loud scream*  
> Prim: Fuck you  
> //  
> *Back at the moment the first season group were leaving Macon*  
> Larry: Lilly, don't go! I can't live on knowing you care about that woman!  
> Lilly: *Laughs* Then die  
> Lilly: *Slams RV door*


	40. Refusing Fate

Heat. It was incredibly hot, almost unbearably so. The sound of crackling fire eventually triggered the self-preservation side of my mind to work properly, momentarily panicking with the thought that I may have been left behind in the half-finished house along with Carver. With my eyes unfocused for so long, it took a concerted effort to get them back to working order as it was - and even then everything around me was hazy and unfocused as if I was trying to open my eyes underwater.

Through the wavy vision it soon become clear that I was not within that ramshackle house. Instead of wooden beams and open walls could I see it morph into stone brick which had been lovingly covered by white paint over the years... I could remember once asking my parents if I could paint my room a gentle pink colour, but they had turned it down simply because it would mean taking down everything from my walls as well as the fact that it'd likely be too expensive to get the primer and everything else.

As if influenced by wishful thinking, soon I could see various bits of furniture and items reappearing that were more than just a little bit familiar to me. Within the wardrobes and bookcases were my clothing and notebooks, and posters all carefully blue-tacked to the stone brick were all the ones I had collected through my life.

...But as much as that feeling of returning home began to settle in my mind, I noticed that the crackling was getting louder. Everything I loved was alight in a bright iridescent blue fire, the flames slowly trickling up to singe the roof of my room.

"Primrose!" While fuzzy and distant - as though he was attempting to shout my name down an impossibly long hallway - my father was calling for me from down the stairs. His voice was panicked, as though he was aware of the flames daring to risk my life upstairs.

"Primrose, honey, where are you?!" My mother's voice joined his not long afterwards, her voices suggesting that they had no clue where I was. It only made sense that they check my room... Unless I had disappeared in their reality.

Slowly, I tried to sit up on the bed I had called my own for the majority of my life, carefully avoiding the small bits of flame that were climbing up my duvet and sheets. Just as I was about to swivel and put my feet on the floor, did the vague amounts of movement out my window catch my attention.

Outside my window it seemed to be snowing a pure white blanket over the ground, despite the fact I would have thought it to be impossible with the intense heat coming from my burning home. Some people were carefully stepping their way through the snow, as though to look inside the window.

Lilly and Kenny were the first two that I could recognise out of the people standing out there, their mouths opening and closing in frenzied manners - quite a bit faster than anything I could have accomplished in that strange state - but no sound seemed to come from them. Even when I placed a hand around the outside of my ear to listen intently, their attempts at shouting louder produced nothing. Alongside them were Luke, Nick and Troy (the latter two carrying someone and being carried respectively), with the former making gestures for me to quickly come out of the room and join them while the other two stared in a worried manner.

"Primrose!" My father's voice distracted me for a brief second again, my head sluggishly turning to my door for a second before looking back out the window yet again.

In the moment I had looked away more of the people I loved within the group had come to join the first five, all of them doing their own movements to ask me to come with them. Fourteen of them clearly were my already established lovers by that point, but that of course did seem to be slightly odd when I could see that Troy, Vince, Bonnie, Jane and Sarita were with them... But no others.

Whether it was by them making waving gestures, charading opening the window or simply seemingly begging me to not leave them, it was clear that I couldn't ignore them any longer. I could either leave via the door to find my parents or escape through the window to those waiting for me, but it seemed unlikely that I would be able to pick both.

Despite the fact I loved my parents dearly, my instinct was to join the nineteen people gathered outside my window. My hands curled around the levers keeping my window shut - momentarily retracting out of surprise due to how hot the metal became - before throwing it open as far as I could. Those waiting for me could see that I had decided to come with them, those worried glances and shouting changing to smiles, relief and delight, most rushing forward to catch me in case the distance to the ground was too great.

With a flurry of snow softly blowing through my room, I carefully leant my legs out of the window... And allowed myself to drop into their waiting arms.

I awoke with a start the moment I would have landed, my sudden twitch seeming like nothing more than a wriggle within the sleeping bag I was confined in. The strange heat and cold were gone, as was my home, revealing that it had all been nothing more than an incredibly real feeling dream... But was the dream something worth mentioning to them?

"Oh... Guys, I think she's awake" I was not the only one sharing the sleeping bag, as Lilly's voice soon gently told others of my conscious state when she felt the small jolt I gave. From the feel of her tender skin at my back, it seemed clear that she had crawled into the sleeping bag to help solve the possible hypothermia I had developed. Of course, she couldn't entirely tell, as she couldn't spy my confused eyes looking around us... But she certainly could guess quite well, pressing a gentle kiss to the side of my neck. "Hey darling"

Rather than the pitch black night that seemed to be happening in that odd dream, there was a vague hint of an orange colour in the air, indicating that it likely was nearing the end of the day after our adventure at the river. There was some semblance of heat and cold, considering the snow around us, and the fire that had been built atop a pile of stones in the middle of our circle of people. Some part of me wondered whether telling them about the dream was a wise idea, considering the odd implications behind it.

After Sam could tell that I had woken up, he began to excitedly snuffle and lick at my face, causing me to snort in laughter.

"Easy boy, easy" After ensuring that I wouldn't get drowned within dog kisses, Lilly gently unzipped the sleeping bag enough that I would be able to sit up a little. Before long she offered me a dry shirt to wear so that I wouldn't disturb any of the children with my nudity. "Did everyone..."

My quick search of the others quickly meant that I could find the three others who had been caught in the unfortunate river incident, all of them being curled up in sleeping bags of their own. Luke sat on his own in one (although from the proximity of Sarita it looked like she might have been in his until he was sufficiently warmed up), leaning against a sleepy Maybelle with a cup of something warm in his hands. Troy looked miserable, lying on the ground with Vince in his sleeping bag until one of the medical professionals declared him heated up enough, while Nick seemed to still be asleep in his with Pete being his living water bottle.

"You all made it out quite well" Carlos assured me, my worries being swept away like a stream. All of us had survived the final hurdle of the season perfectly, and the man causing the problems now had been completely taken out of the equation thanks to Pete and his plan. "Nick is still asleep, but his vitals seem normal"

"But you guys are certain you got him, right? I was knocked out when all of the interesting stuff started to happen" Troy hadn't been able to see the fiery plume, but I supposed it wasn't all that outlandish considering I had joined him in the land of slumber just a little bit after he had. It was only when several different people nodded their heads that Troy seemed to relax, accepting that he now no longer had to keep himself on high alert. "Good"

"I know I don't exactly need to tell you, but I figure I should anyway" As Luke's hands gently rubbed the side of the mug he was holding, he sent me a loving look through the gentle steam wafting up from it. "I'm so thankful you decided to ignore my warning and came to get us. Words cannot convey how much I love you"

My left hand reached up to softly place itself over my heart, that gesture and a warm smile given to him as both thanks for his words and to express that it was something that I felt strongly as well.

Now that there was confirmation that everyone had survived, as well as further assurance for the more worried members within our group that we had no villainous individual to fear anymore, there was the thought coming up in my mind about how many people were going to be sticking around now that 'strength in numbers' might not have been their biggest priority anymore.

To my surprise, there didn't seem to be that any that looked uncomfortable with the atmosphere we had going on. Jane was having a grand time telling all of the young adolescents about her past adventures (with Carlos and Katjaa sitting close by in case those stories wandered a bit far from PG-13 areas), Shel and Mike were grossing out her younger sister Becca by being suitably romantic with each other, Wyatt and Russel were learning some of the more hilarious tales of our past adventures with Glenn and Doug, Bonnie looked as comfortable as could be sitting beside Carley and Rebecca, while Arvo - despite no longer having a reason to stick around for revenge - was spending some time with Rose in his lap and carefully making sure that the young girl was not able to grab his glasses. Only one looked like he was pondering something, and we didn't have to wait long for him to say what was on his mind.

"I've... I've been thinking of setting out on my own" Reggie explained what was on his mind, momentarily disrupting the calm atmosphere that had been established within the group. The disruption was minor, but it seemed to unnerve him even more than he already was feeling in the moment. It likely was a side effect of recently escaping from Carver's camp, but I supposed he was worrying about someone becoming upset that he wasn't going to stay.

"That sounds like a great idea" Embodying the exact opposite of their old leader, I made sure to let him (and everyone else) know that going out on his own was absolutely alright. Sure, I would be quite sad if others were to do the same and leave our group, but it was only right that they had the opportunity if they so wished. "If you want to find someplace where you truly belong, then please feel free"

"We can't exactly give you half of our supplies, considering our large amount of people, but I'm sure we can spare something for you" Shawn agreed with the idea, gently rummaging through a bag of supplies that we still had. At most it would be a can of beans, but considering the state of our world as it was, something like that was not something to be sneezed at.

"I... Thank you" Reggie, while still trying to get used to the change from the extreme to the suitably more mundane, appreciated the gesture very much. As such, it certainly seemed that our group of forty-one was going to be losing a single member sometime soon, dropping the number down to a reliable forty.

"But speaking of people coming and going, I think it's about time we talk about what's coming" Alvin turned the subject to what we were going to do in the future, and to my surprise Arvo didn't look the slightest bit surprised by it being brought up. It seemed as if he had been told about it already by the others while I was asleep, even if he might have not completely understood all of the implications behind it just yet. "A number of the others that have been with you for a long time say that there are more people in danger?"

I took a moment to ponder that. There was no denying that was true, but was it fair to drag everyone there along with me?

"I can't speak for everyone, but I know for certain that I'll stick by you whatever you decide" Kenny said that, knowing from just a glance that it must have weighed heavily on my mind.

"Definitely" My ever constant supporter, Clementine was in agreement, her smile just as bright as it had been when she was a relatively bright eyed nine year old. Maybe I had done that right in raising her; allowing her to retain her wonder and happiness in that world "We'll always support you mum"

She, along with everyone else, smiled and nodded their heads; telling me that they truly would follow behind me even if my decision was to fight the Delta and New Frontier at the same time. With all of them there, was there any doubt that I would have returned back to them, even if I could have gone back to my old world?

"...There's two more groups of people that I want to help" I began to explain, listing things slowly so that Mark was able to open his map of the USA to see what way we would go next. "The next lot will be at the city of Richmond, in approximately two years"

"Two years" Rebecca sighed softly, finding the allotted time to be just a bit too long. But just as she was beginning to find it irritating, she glanced down at her little bundle of joy in her arms and remembered that there were things worth living for. "Then again, two years will help this little guy to grow up in a place of love"

"It might even be enough time for Troy to recover in that time" Pete poked fun at Troy laid on the ground, the latter huffing in indignation. Even so, I could imagine that Troy would be much happier once he was able to contribute back to the people who had saved his life and taken such good care of him.

With the growing chatter among different bunches of people in our group, my mind couldn't help but wander back to the dream I had during my cold induced stupor. Nobody there seemed to give off any indication that they had physically or emotionally been there outside my window, so it seemed to be more logical to say that it was just my mind trying to process everything that had happened... And yet, considering the strange way I had gotten to that new world on it's own, I couldn't help but think of it in a bit more of an abstract manner.

To my knowledge, I had been brought to Clementine's backyard when I had fallen asleep that night two years ago at my university. For all I knew about the process, the Blue Comet worked only in people's dreams... So in such a situation, was that dream an offer to go back home if I wanted to? It wasn't even like doing so would have ruined everything I had done; all of my lovers - and the people I honestly would like to consider such, even if they didn't feel the same way toward me - were a clear indication that they still would have had their lives saved.

"You look worried" It didn't take long for someone to see that look on my face, the kind that most would describe as 'seeing someone's cogs spinning in their mind'. The voice belonged to Ben, which somehow helped to bring up the courage to mention it to them. "Already getting worked up over the future?"

"...No, I was actually thinking about a dream I was experiencing before I woke up" I admitted, seeing him lean forward in a manner that suggested he was naturally curious about what kind of dream I had experienced. Honesty was supposed to be the thing I worked on the most around them, so I decided to open up further about it. "I was back in my old house - the one from my old universe - and everything was on fire with this strange blue flame. Through my door I could hear my parents calling for me, but you and all of my lovers were outside the window where the flames seemingly couldn't reach... And I decided to open the window and climb out to you guys"

"Hmm... Perhaps it is a near death experience?" Walter suggested the possibility, which was also an interesting possibility. Like my own theory of it being the Blue Comet, that could have been the answer to why I had such a strange dream. "Some people who experience those say that they experience a situation where they're presented a choice of going on to the afterlife or returning back to their body"

"But wouldn't that imply that her parents are..." Wyatt began to suggest, but just managed to stop himself from actually saying anything depressing. After all, there were still a number of people in our group who hadn't dealt with the death of their own family members.

"Not necessarily, I think Walter simply meant that the option of coming back to the people outside the window represented returning to life" Sarita didn't see it quite as grim as Wyatt had, but it certainly did pose an interesting question. I had no conceivable way to know if my parents were still alive in their universe, just as little as they would have knowledge about what was going on in my life... Did my parents know that I was missing, or did they simply have their memories erased by the Blue Comet? "What about you Prim? What do you think it meant?"

"I honestly thought that it might have been the Blue Comet offering me a way back home, considering I was brought here while I was asleep two years ago" As much as I knew it would upset them to consider that sort of theory, it didn't change a thing; I would pick them over that old world no matter what. "But it doesn't matter whether it was actually that or nothing more than an odd dream, you guys are going to be my pick no matter what"

"Flatterer" Jane teasingly said, but the grin on her face seemed to say that she was pleased with those words coming out of my mouth. Perhaps she had been there along with my lovers in that dream for a good reason after all.

With that dream and the future discussed, it was finally time to call that stressful - and equally inspiring - day to an end. The rest of the night was filled with pleasant talking, sharing delicious food and spending some quality time with one another. Nick had to be given the run down on things once he finally woke up from his long nap, but before long it seemed that everything was as good as it could ever have been.

It had surprised me more than a little when the following morning came, as the two night watchers Carlos and Vince both told me that Reggie had decided to make a quiet exit - even quieter than the one I remembered Chuck and Molly doing. Apparently he had wanted to avoid any kind of tears from the people who knew him well, and conversely had wanted to avoid endlessly apologising to me for his careless words two days prior. I wish I could have been the bigger person and claimed that I would not have been annoyed if he had done so, but... Well, to be truthful I was nowhere near attached to him as I was with the other two former members of our group anyway.

There were no immediate ideas in our heads of where we would be heading for supplies before we would make the trek towards Richmond. Wellington wouldn't have enough supplies to warrant the trip up to them (perhaps it was for Clementine, Kenny and AJ, but certainly not forty people), and there were no guarantees that everyone within Howe's Hardware would be long dead if we travelled back there. Considering both options, we saddled up (Troy with Nick and I with Luke) and simply started to follow where one of the roads took us.

Most of our journey was heading back south of our current position, hoping to get to warmer temperatures for the younger kids in the group. Even though we now had an entirely new plan on what we were doing, as well as the fact that messing about was a silly notion with the dead still somewhat roaming around despite the colder temperatures, but I found myself wondering when we'd have the time to simply play in the snow like normal people... Who knows, perhaps that was something only reserved for us once we had saved everyone.

On the subject of saving everyone, it did not pass anyone by that our sky was no longer blanketed in clouds. Well, that was a lie; there were still clouds over our heads, but there was something more than a little bit odd about them. Rather than the white they had managed to stay for two years or the subsequent shades of grey that started to appear after I saved people, these ones were _purely_ pitch black; as if we were staring up at the night sky without any of the stars to go with it.

In fact, many of us would have guessed that it _was_ night, if it weren't for the fact that sunlight were peeking in wherever it could to brighten the air around us, fighting against the oppressive gloom that came from the black blanket. Try as we did, nobody could come up with anything concrete about what it meant, beyond one possible suggestion coming out of Bonnie's mouth.

"Maybe the Blue Comet is mad you're changing things"

That idea stuck in my mind like a hook. It didn't seem that far of a stretch to suggest that it had something to do with the Blue Comet, seeing as the weather reacted to the deaths I averted, but it created further questions that we had no answers to. Why was it mad? Why would it bring me here if it didn't want me to do any of the things I wished for? If it was mad, what was this weather change supposed to do beyond possibly scare me? It certainly cemented the fact in my mind that I still had to uncover several answers before I could confidently say that I knew everything in that world.

"Prim" At one point during our trek, Nick sharply called for my attention. He and several others had noted a small band of people hanging about in the middle of the road in front of us, but they naturally were wary of anyone after the last experience with a group of people outside of our own.

While I couldn't pick out any distinct characteristics of who they were from the distance we were at, they didn't seem like the dangerous type of people who would try to steal supplies. That was reserved for the people who would hide in the shadows and lurk about rather than standing in the open.

"Let them come to us" I gave the orders, which Glenn obediently complied to. After catching their attention (it turns out they _hadn't_ noticed us, if some of their men jumping suddenly when Glenn spoke to them was anything to go by), it seemed that they were more than happy to oblige that request of ours.

Most of the people approaching were the typical kind of people that one would consider background characters, the ones who flittered in the background and somewhat ashamedly never stuck around in your mind once they left. One of them was going to get a similar kind of treatment from me, when I peered closer at his face a few seconds later. Give him a bit of time to grow his hair out and mold his chin ever so slightly with a small goatee, and he'd look remarkably similar to...

"Hello there, it's been a while since I've met a group this large since the dead began to walk" It seemed that very same person I was interested in was the leader of the band of people, around seven strong compared to our mass of people. Even his voice was familiar, as two years couldn't change that even if he had tried. "My name is Clint, it's a real pleasure to meet friendly people these days"

...He truly was _that_ Clint, the one diplomatic voice within the New Frontier.

"Same 'ere" Luke picked up the slack for the momentary silence I was giving, being polite and cordial to anyone just like I expected from him. I wasn't completely out of it however, my tender arms curling around Luke's shoulders were a clear sign of that. "I can't imagine there's much in the area beyond snow and lurkers, but at least civility ain't dead"

"If you guys are looking to be fed, we actually could make a nice little deal. See, we're looking for able bodied workers to build up our community to make it a real paradise" Clint went right out with an offer to recruit us for his development plans, something that was just the ticket to have a great foothold for what the future would have in store for us. Even if the community they were building right now wasn't exactly the one in Richmond, who was to say whether that could change from a little suggestion here and there. "What do you think?"

"It sounds like a plan" I agreed to the idea, not willing to let go of the possibilities we had with that deal. There only was a slight hint of confusion on other peoples faces when they looked to me, but that soon left after they saw the confidence in my smile while others simply accepted it because they understood I would have a good reason for it. "Give us two minutes to discuss it amongst us, in case some people are against it"

"Of course" Clint wasn't averse to the idea of giving us privacy - in fact, he seemed to expect it. "We'll take some paces down the road, and you feel free to let us know when you're all decided"

As he and his six buddies gave us some space, I decided to reach into one of my pockets to find the picture of Lee that I had managed to keep on me for so long. He certainly had managed to keep me safe for so long, even if his contribution had been nothing more than providing emotional support to me. I could see Clementine smile at me as I pressed a soft kiss to the crumpled picture, asking for him to keep an eye on me for a while longer... Perhaps until I didn't need it any longer, if I was allowed to be greedy.

"I'm going to go ahead and guess that he's a familiar face?" Carley asked her, and looking at her felt like glancing into a beautiful mirror simply based on the very same confident smile spreading over her lips.

"You know it; he's going to become one of the main leaders within Richmond" I told them that, tucking away Lee safely into another pocket; quickly shifting my mind from thinking about the past to charging full of confidence into the future. "Ready for another adventure?"

The reactions and answers ranged from the teasing eye roll to the quiet cheering, each person wearing a smile that could only exist in that moment in time because of the lives I had saved.

It wasn't quite the picture perfect ending that I had promised them - standing around in the cold and trudging to the next location - but what I had was far better; thirty-nine people willing to make those happy endings a reality alongside me. Six more years, and I'd be able to stand beside them at the most brilliant happy ending that I could ever imagine. Best of all, it would be one crafted together.

****The End** **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Congratulations and thanks in equal amounts to you for reading this far, regardless of whether you were here from the beginning or joined five minutes ago!
> 
> This book has been quite the ride, considering my three month hiatus halfway through considering my poor mental health at the time. But regardless of that, I can honestly say that I am so proud of what this series has become. Fifteen year old me had no clue what she was beginning, but I can certainly say that I'm so proud of what I have made. Even if I never make it as a writer (which I am trying my darndest to reach, let me tell you that!), I can wholeheartedly say that I will likely consider this series one of my best.
> 
> Also news, it's kind of funny looking at the ending of the first book which wished others a very bisexual and polyamorous Christmas. The polyamorous thing still is there and isn't going away anytime soon, but I can certainly say that I've realised my true sexuality is being an Omnisexual. Combined with my Demiromantic orientation (which also has been around for a long time, but I've never really talked about it) and recently discovering my nonbinary identity (she/he for anyone wondering) I'd certainly say I've become far more in tune with myself than I was before.  
> That, and considering the fact I nearly made the deadline for making this book in an entire year despite the hiatus, I am super proud of myself :3
> 
> So, once again, I thank you for joining me on this journey. Have a happy (late) holiday wishes from me as well as the fact I sincerely hope that you'll have a good year and I really can't wait for you guys to join me again when I start on the third book!!


End file.
